Hithium has launched a battery energy storage system (BESS) product suitable for use in desert conditions and plans to build a 5GWh production plant in Saudi Arabia.
The Chinese manufacturer and system integrator launched its desert BESS solution at an event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this week, claiming that the product line is customised to meet the requirements of customers in the Middle East and Africa (MEA).
While details of the product range given in an announcement yesterday (16 October) were relatively few, Hithium said the solutions feature advanced sandstorm protection and are designed to be suitable for low-temperature and high-temperature environments.
The company also claimed the systems will support long-duration energy storage (LDES) applications requiring more than 12-hour discharge durations.
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In addition to the product unveiling, Hithium also announced the formation of a new joint venture (JV), through which it plans the construction of a BESS factory in Saudi Arabia with 5GWh annual production capacity.
The JV, Hithium MANAT, has been formed with engineering solutions company MANAT, which was founded and is owned by Nabilah Al-Tunisi, a former chief engineer at Saudi state-owned energy company Saudi Aramco. Al-Tunisi is the CEO of the new JV company.
“The development of one of the first advanced BESS manufacturing facilities in Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region underscores this commitment,” Nabilah Al-Tunisi said.
“By establishing this subsidiary and investing in a local BESS factory, we are not only expanding our global footprint but also directly contributing to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. ‘Local for Local’ is our promise to foster local energy storage growth,” said Sean Sun, MEA regional general manager for Hithium.
Hithium, headquartered in Xiamen, China, manufactures battery cells including 280Ah and 314Ah prismatic lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells, and battery storage cabinets and liquid-cooled containers that include 3.44MWh containerised solutions featuring the 280Ah cell and 5.015MWh units that use the larger cell.
The company is specialised in stationary battery storage and does not supply batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) or other applications and has reported 40GWh of cumulative BESS shipments to date worldwide.
It is among the Chinese manufacturers to be planning production plants in the US, announcing the development of a 10GWh annual production capacity factory in Texas which will make modules and complete systems. While a timeline for the construction of that plant was not given at the time of its announcement in July, Hithium said it would invest an initial US$100 million into its development and that it would create 141 manufacturing jobs at the site in the city of Mesquite “within five years.”
Within the MENA region, in May, Hithium launched a cooperation with Turkish engineering company Kontek Enerji’s battery storage subsidiary Maxxen, through which the pair seek to promote energy storage systems and establish a production facility in the country.
