On 11 June Hithium announced the successful mass production of the world’s first kAh battery cell – ∞Cell 1175Ah – at its Chongqing manufacturing base in China. Hithium believes this marks the beginning of a new phase, where long-duration energy storage enters scaled deployment
Hithium, foreseeing the arrival of the long-duration energy storage era, made investments in the R&D and manufacturing of kAh battery cells as early as 2022. Faced with a new range of challenges in size, process complexity, and quality control, Hithium has achieved five key innovations across the manufacturing chain at the Chongqing base, namely a breakthrough in wide-width thick coating precision; achieving a coating mass density COV of less than 0.2%, with online inspection through high-precision CCD cameras, ensuring consistent and stable product quality; enhanced efficiency in large-electrode stacking reaching 0.5 mm alignment accuracy and 0.1625 seconds per sheet, and increasing stacking throughput by 35% compared to conventional processes. A breakthrough in original cell structure design through introduction of a proprietary “integrated 3D airflow top cover” structure, and dedicated automation equipment to ensure the manufacturing stability and structural strength of large-size components, to break industry bottlenecks.
It has also improved back-end cell manufacturing efficiency by developing high-efficiency baking, 1.2 MPa high-pressure isostatic electrolyte filling, and high-rate formation and grading processes, which boosts back-end manufacturing efficiency by 45%. And greater consistency in cell wrapping by introducing a highly compatible flexible lamination roller system to effectively solve industry-wide issues such as wrinkling and bubbling in ultra-large cell packaging.
For increased safety Hithium as incorporated a multi-level safety architecture across cell, module, and system levels to promote full-lifecycle safety for large-capacity energy storage systems.
The cell itself adopts advanced electrolyte formulation to form high-temperature-resistant SEI and CEI layers, to enhance both safety and cycle life, and at the pack level, a dual-mode thermal protection structure prevents thermal propagation and oxygen ingress. In addition functional safety and cybersecurity are integrated via multimodal early warning algorithms and redundant control technologies to ensure stable and secure system operation. At the system, multi-layer fire-resistant and heat-insulating materials, a reinforced internal frame, and intelligent fire detection and suppression systems work together to maintain structural integrity and proactively prevent thermal runaway.
The ∞Cell 1175Ah has received UL 1973 and UL 9540A certifications from UL Solutions, a recognised safety authority. And the company has signed a strategic co-operation agreement with El Mor, the leading EPC company in Israel, to launch Hithium’s first long-duration energy storage project in Romania.
