Global Battery Leader CATL In Tie-Up With UL To Improve Battery Safety

Global battery technology player Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) has announced that it has signed an MoU with applied safety science provider UL Solutions for strategic cooperation to help create safer deployment and use of battery energy storage systems (BESS) and electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

The agreement expects CATL to use its battery laboratory to kick off the process to achieve UL Solutions witness test data program (WTDP) status to test to UL 9540A, the Standard for Test Method for Evaluating Thermal Runaway Fire Propagation in Battery Energy Storage Systems. Once achieving WTDP designation by UL Solutions, CATL will be entitled to conduct WTDP tests at its test facilities under the supervision of UL Solutions personnel. CATL expects improvement in efficiency and shorten time to market for battery products certification and testing.

CATL claims to be the first company in China to launch the UL Solutions WTDP initiative for UL 9540A. It boasts diversified testing and verification capabilities, and has already been qualified by UL Solutions through the WTDP designation, to test to UL1973, the Standard for Batteries for Use in Stationary and Motive Auxiliary Power Applications, UL 9540, the Standard for Energy Storage Systems and Equipment and UL 2580, the Standard for Batteries for Use in Electric Vehicles. CATL is among the key suppliers to Tesla in China, besides many other global auto giants for their EVs.

EnerOne, the company’s flagship outdoor liquid cooling battery system, and EnerC, its containerized liquid-cooling battery system, have received the latest version of UL 9540A test report. CATL said that its first company in China to receive test report of such kind in cell, module, unit and installation level by UL Solutions.

Both parties will also leverage their expertise to carry out in-depth cooperation in further exploring lithium-ion battery safety and offer insight towards developing BESS and EV battery standards. The two companies will also collaborate to explore carbon footprint reduction and other sustainability efforts.

“Battery storage technologies are essential to speeding up the transition from fossil fuels with renewable energy and will play an increasingly pivotal role to help combat climate change and carbon emissions,” said Weifang Zhou, Executive VP, UL Solutions.

“By cooperating with UL Solutions, we look forward to improving the scientificity and integrality of energy storage system safety testing, thus further enhancing our comprehensive testing and validation capabilities for energy storage systems,” said LiBin Tan, VP, CATL.