By Share from China Energy Storage Network News | 16 June 2025 | 0 Comments
587Ah VS 684Ah: The battle of the new generation of energy storage technology under the "bet" of the
587Ah VS 684Ah: The battle of the new generation of energy storage technology under the "bet" of the two giants
From 280Ah to 314Ah, and then to 587Ah, 684Ah, or other large-capacity batteries, the current "battle" around the third-generation energy storage dedicated batteries is becoming more and more fierce.
As we all know, in the process of unification of the second-generation energy storage batteries, Sungrow played an important role. In 2023, it joined hands with upstream battery manufacturers to define the 314Ah battery as the next generation mainstream product. Since then, the 314Ah battery has penetrated rapidly around the world, and its penetration rate is expected to exceed 70% in 2025.
From 280Ah to 314Ah, and then to 587Ah, 684Ah, or other large-capacity batteries, the current "battle" around the third-generation energy storage dedicated batteries is becoming more and more fierce.
As we all know, in the process of unification of the second-generation energy storage batteries, Sungrow played an important role. In 2023, it joined hands with upstream battery manufacturers to define the 314Ah battery as the next generation mainstream product. Since then, the 314Ah battery has penetrated rapidly around the world, and its penetration rate is expected to exceed 70% in 2025.
Today, in the battle for the "optimal solution" of the next generation of energy storage cells, only a few days apart, the two giants, Sungrow Power Supply and CATL, have "shown their swords" one after another - Sungrow Power Supply released the industry's first mass-produced 684Ah stacked large cell; CATL announced that its 587Ah cell using winding technology has been put into production at the Jining base in Shandong in April this year.
In addition, many manufacturers such as Envision Power, EVE Energy, Ruipu Lanjun, Xinwangda, Haichen Energy Storage, Chuan New Energy, Narada Power, and Trina Energy Storage have launched 500+Ah or even higher capacity cell products, and there are continuous news of mass production. The brutal battle for the definition of the third-generation energy storage cell is unfolding.
The two giants "bet" on different technical routes
As the core component of the energy storage system, the cost of the cell usually accounts for more than 50% of the energy storage system, and the quality of a cell will directly determine the performance, safety and reliability of the energy storage system. From the development trend, the main driving force of energy storage cells is that they can significantly reduce the number of cells in the system, reduce the complexity of system management, improve manufacturing and integration efficiency, and reduce structural parts, thereby achieving cost reduction.
Taking CATL's 587Ah cell as an example, according to official introduction, the use of this cell can significantly reduce the total number of system components from the original 30,000 to 18,000, a decrease of 40%, driving a 15% reduction in system integration costs.
Sungrow announced that it will establish the 684Ah specification cell as the next generation of large cell technology route, and released the PowerTitan3.0 AC smart storage platform to the world, and the first real machine has been rolled off the production line at its Hefei headquarters factory. It is reported that the PowerTitan3.0 smart storage platform includes three versions: Flex (10 feet), Class (20 feet), and Plus (30 feet). Among them, the Plus version of the 30-foot single cabinet refreshes the current record of the largest single capacity of the energy storage system with 12.5MWh, using a 684Ah stacked cell design.
Regarding the definition of the next generation of cells, according to the relevant person in charge of Sungrow Power Supply, it was reversed from the scene side and the system level, and finally 684Ah was selected. There are four main considerations: one is the technology development trend and process requirements, the second is the customer's requirements for the cell life, efficiency, energy density, floor space, etc., the third is the safety standards, performance indicators and fire acceptance standards for energy storage cells at home and abroad, and the fourth is the different logistics and transportation requirements at home and abroad. He also said, "To succeed, the next generation of energy storage cells must meet two requirements. One is to truly bring more value to customers. The capacity of the cell must ultimately accurately match the scheduling requirements of the AC side system; the second is to have a life cycle of at least 3 to 5 years."
The person in charge of domestic energy storage solutions of CATL emphasized that energy storage cells are not "the bigger the better", but need to accurately find the "golden balance point" between legal regulations, whole station matching, system integration and electrochemistry and other multi-dimensional complex factors, and said that the capacity of 587Ah is the "optimal solution" for the next generation of energy storage cells given by CATL.
It is worth noting that the two giants have completely different considerations and choices in terms of manufacturing process, not only in terms of cell capacity.
In the past, 280Ah and 314Ah cells generally adopted the winding process, but as the cell capacity continues to increase, the stacking process is regarded as the key to breaking through large-capacity batteries. Sungrow's 684Ah cell chose the stacking process, and Sungrow believes that the "performance potential of stacking technology is greater than imagined."
But for now, the winding process still firmly occupies a mainstream position with its mature technology and cost advantages, and CATL also has more advantages in winding technology, so its 587Ah cell still adheres to the winding process route. Regarding the choice of process route, Li Xing, chief engineer of energy storage cell research and development of CATL, said that compared with the stacking process, the 587Ah cell using the winding process has a "one order of magnitude lower" failure rate caused by self-discharge.
Industry experts believe that the competition around the next-generation energy storage battery cell standards is expected to continue for some time. At present, no party has a clear advantage, and it remains to be seen what choice the market will make in the future.
"Game" between integrators and battery cell companies
It is not difficult to see that the current industry's competition for the next-generation energy storage battery cells is mainly divided into two camps: one is the energy storage system integrator led by Sungrow, and the other is the leading battery cell companies represented by CATL.
Public data shows that in 2024, Sungrow's global shipments of energy storage systems exceeded 10GWh, ranking first among Chinese companies for 9 consecutive years, and its energy storage systems ranked first in the world in terms of cumulative installed capacity and cumulative orders. Although it is a well-deserved global energy storage giant, there are also views in the industry that Sungrow's "shortcoming" lies in not producing batteries itself.
It is understood that Sungrow's battery cell providers include CATL, Samsung SDI, Penghui Energy, Ruipu Lanjun, and Zhongxinhang. It is reported that the PowerTitan 3.0 product with 684Ah battery cells launched by Sungrow will be supplied by Sunwoda.
It is worth mentioning that in terms of profit, the gross profit margin of energy storage batteries is generally lower than that of energy storage systems. It is reported that the gross profit margin of Sungrow's energy storage business will be 36.69% in 2024, while the gross profit margin of CATL's energy storage business, which is mainly based on batteries, will be 26.84%. This also prompted battery cell companies to collectively accelerate their extension to the energy storage system link.
CATL, EVE Energy, Envision Energy Storage, Ruipu Lanjun, Haichen Energy Storage, Sinotruk, Guoxuan High-tech, Honeycomb Energy, Lishen (Qingdao), etc., have all released system solutions based on their respective large-capacity energy storage batteries, trying to define energy storage systems from the perspective of batteries.
Among them, the 500+Ah battery cells that Envision Energy Storage has already put into mass production can be adapted to its 6+MWh energy storage system, and even 7MWh and 8MWh energy storage systems, which is obviously prepared for the next incremental market of energy storage.
Ruipu Lanjun's layout is more "pragmatic". According to reports, it has achieved mass production of the new generation of 392Ah energy storage batteries, and the 6.26MWh system adapted to it is also planned to start mass production and delivery this year; in addition, it has also deployed a number of 500+Ah energy storage batteries, and the Wending® 587Ah battery cell that has been launched can achieve energy storage system capacity upgrade to 7+WMh.
CATL, which has always been regarded as an industry benchmark in the industry, has a more complete layout in the field of energy storage systems. In addition to the 587Ah large battery cell and 6MWh energy storage system, its subsidiary Xinneng'an is also focusing on the energy storage business, especially in the field of industrial and commercial energy storage. Pengcheng Unlimited, founded in 2023, is reportedly the first battery manufacturing and sales company in China to have both CATL technology authorization and after-sales service authorization. In other words, it can achieve "Pengcheng Unlimited sells goods, CATL personally provides after-sales service."
Obviously, the current "battle" between system integrators and battery cell manufacturers around the "optimal solution" for the next generation of energy storage batteries has entered a more brutal new stage. Battery manufacturing is an asset-heavy industry. The next generation of large batteries basically requires the construction of new production lines to achieve mass production. Once participants make a decision to invest in production lines, they will decide in the market trials in the next few years whether the technology route they have "bet" heavily on will ultimately win.
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