[Energy Storage: CALB's Three Energy Storage Battery Projects Approved]

According to a press conference held by the National Energy Administration (NEA), in the first half of this year, driven by the rapid development of high‑tech industries such as new energy vehicles and artificial intelligence, electricity consumption in the charging and swapping service sector and the internet data service sector grew strongly, reaching 81.0 billion kWh and 49.4 billion kWh respectively, up 56.9% and 44% year‑on‑year. Together, they contributed 0.9 percentage points to the growth of total electricity consumption of the whole society.

Tesla has signed a long-term PPA with ContourGlobal for the Sterling hybrid solar and battery storage project in Arizona. The agreement covers about 1TWh of electricity annually, equal to around 90% of the project’s expected annual output of more than 1.1TWh. Project Sterling combines 509MW DC/450MW AC of solar PV with a 360MW/1.4GWh battery storage system. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2026, with commercial operation targeted for 2028.

Recently, the EPC general contracting for the 100MW/200MWh standalone ESS power station project in Xigang Town, Tengzhou City, Shandong Province, issued a termination notice, just one day after the tender announcement was released. The reason for termination was "significant changes." Also in July, the EPC for the 200MW/800MWh standalone ESS project in Usu City, Xinjiang, once again issued a tender termination notice, citing "significant adjustments to the construction content." This was already the third termination of the project's tender process. Looking back at the tender history of the Usu project, its first tender was in November 2025, with a budget of 730 million yuan, equating to a unit price of 0.91 Yuan/Wh. It was later terminated due to significant changes in the technical specifications. After resumption, the budget was raised to approximately 807 million yuan, with the unit price rising to 1.01 Yuan/Wh. In January 2026, the project announced the winning bid result, with PowerChina Jiangxi Electric Power winning the bid at a unit price of 0.94 Yuan/Wh.