As of now, CATL has delivered nearly 900 electric ships, firmly ranking first in the global electric ship battery matching market. This strategic cooperation with companies such as Jiangxi Pi Ship, Guangxi Pinglu Canal Group, and Chengrui Electric Power will promote the expansion of electric ships from inland to offshore, and help China's shipping industry seize the global competitive high ground in green transformation.  

Cracking industry pain points with triple technological breakthroughs

For a long time, ship operations have faced the dilemma of "unable to afford a ship, unable to charge it, and unable to settle accounts". In the traditional mode, power, energy replenishment, and maintenance belong to different suppliers, making coordination difficult and responsibilities unclear, resulting in frequent problems and low efficiency during the 30-year operation cycle. The high initial purchase cost, insufficient energy replenishment infrastructure, range anxiety, and technical challenges in harsh environments such as high humidity and high salt spray of electric ships have become the core bottlenecks restricting the large-scale development of zero carbon shipping.  

The integrated solution of "ship shore cloud" launched by CATL has achieved triple technological breakthroughs in the electric ship system:

Ship end: the leap from vehicle regulation level to ship regulation level

CATL has launched the "Dual Branch Box Power Supply", which has been certified by five major global classification societies including China CCS, the United States ABS, Norway DNV, Italy RINA, and France BV. Through redundant design, the long-term operational safety of ships in humid and high salt spray environments is fundamentally guaranteed. In terms of battery cell and system selection, priority should be given to using systems with larger safety windows, and specialized designs should be made based on the long voyage time and high rate output requirements of ships, combined with high reliability BMS and EMS, to improve the stability of the entire system under high humidity, high salt spray, and continuous vibration conditions.  

Shore end: Innovative business models to reduce costs

On the shore, CATL has implemented two innovative models: "ship power separation" and "battery bank". By operating batteries as independent assets and constructing a charging and swapping network, the initial purchase threshold for ship owners is significantly reduced, and the operational economy of electric ships throughout their entire lifecycle is improved. This mode fundamentally solves the industry pain point of "slow charging and long time consuming" of electric ships. The process of changing power for a single battery is short, and the efficiency is more than 20 times higher than that of direct charging.  

Cloud: Intelligent management improves efficiency

In the cloud, relying on the "Yunfan" platform and the "Beichen" system, the ship, port, and power data links are connected to achieve comprehensive intelligent management and energy efficiency optimization of ship energy consumption, battery health, and navigation scheduling. By collecting real-time ship operating conditions, battery status, and port energy replenishment information, the optimal route and replenishment timing can be dynamically planned to reduce reliance on crew experience and improve operational efficiency.

Signed three major partners to jointly build a zero carbon ecosystem

To accelerate the large-scale implementation of technological solutions, CATL has reached strategic partnerships with representative enterprises in the fields of major engineering, infrastructure, and shipbuilding, focusing on the construction of green shipping ecology

Jointly develop new ship types with pi vessels. Ningde Times and Jiangxi pi vessels jointly develop a new generation of green and intelligent ship types, integrating Ningde Times' power battery technology with pi vessels' expertise in new composite materials and high-performance boat manufacturing, to jointly develop a market-oriented new generation of green and intelligent ship types.  

Ningde Times and Guangxi Pinglu Canal Group will jointly build a green corridor around the Pinglu Canal, a backbone project of the western land sea new channel. Ningde Times and Guangxi Pinglu Canal Group will carry out in-depth cooperation in the fields of green intelligent ship construction and canal clean energy system construction, serving major national strategies with zero carbon technology.  

Ningde Times and Chengrui Power will collaborate to leverage their advantages in the fields of new energy and port electrification, jointly promoting the construction and operation of infrastructure such as port power and intelligent charging and swapping, and solving the "last mile" energy replenishment problem in the large-scale application of electric ships.  

The market prospects are broad, and the sword is pointing towards the ocean for three years

Since its establishment in the shipbuilding industry in 2017, CATL has delivered nearly 900 electric ships, covering inland waterway freight, coastal passenger transport, and ocean auxiliary transportation. The company has set multiple industry records, including the world's largest pure electric inland passenger ship "Three Gorges 1", the first pure electric offshore passenger ship "Yujian 77" to be classified by China Classification Society, and the first hybrid tugboat "Qinggang Tu1" in China, among other demonstration projects.  

According to research firm EVTank's forecast, the size of China's electric ship market is expected to reach 36.75 billion yuan by 2026, and the demand for lithium batteries will increase from 173.2 MWh in 2021 to 11.2 GWh in 2026. CATL has a market share of about 40% in the electric ship field and ranks first in the global electric ship battery matching market. Su Yiyi, General Manager of Ningde Times Shipbuilding Division, stated that the current plan has been maturely applied to inland rivers, lakes, and seas. "It is expected that in about three years, we will achieve pure electric ships sailing towards the ocean. If this goal is achieved, it will completely rewrite the energy landscape of global ocean shipping.  

The release of the "ship shore cloud" integrated solution and the achievement of a series of strategic partnerships are important measures taken by CATL to implement the "global incremental" strategy and build a zero carbon energy ecosystem for land, sea, and air integration. In the future, CATL will continue to collaborate with all parties in the industry chain to promote the transformation of the global shipping industry towards green, low-carbon, and sustainable directions.Editor/Yang Meiling