CATL, Intilion Target 3 GWh Sodium-Ion Storage in Europe

Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and German energy storage integrator Intilion agreed on Oct. 9 to jointly develop up to 3 GWh of sodium-ion battery energy storage projects across German-speaking Europe over the next five years.

Intilion Chief Executive Hubertus Jakobi announced the deal in a LinkedIn post, saying the two companies intend to deploy CATL's sodium-ion storage systems in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the three markets known in the industry as DACH. The agreement extends a cooperation the two companies have run for several years.

Intilion, headquartered in Paderborn, Germany, is part of the HOPPECKE Group and integrates battery cells into utility-scale and commercial storage systems, handling engineering, software, commissioning and maintenance. CATL is the world's largest maker of lithium-ion battery cells and has spent about 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) on sodium-ion research and development since 2016, according to the company.

The new target builds on an existing framework. In May 2025, CATL and Intilion closed an agreement covering up to 10 GWh of battery storage projects in the DACH region over five years, based on CATL's lithium-ion TENER product line. The companies have not said whether the new sodium-ion target sits inside that earlier 10 GWh framework or stands as a separate allocation.

The 3 GWh figure is a development target, not a set of confirmed orders. Neither company has disclosed specific projects, procurement commitments, contract values or an initial delivery schedule tied to the agreement.

CATL has signed a string of sodium-ion storage deals in Europe this year that give the Intilion target a point of comparison. In July, the company agreed to deploy 5 GWh of sodium-ion storage in Western Europe with Dutch integrator Alfen, with deployments planned to start in 2027. Also in July, CATL signed a separate agreement with Bulgaria's Solarpro to supply 2 GWh of sodium-ion storage for projects across Central and Eastern Europe.

Those three European deals, now totaling as much as 10 GWh of targeted sodium-ion capacity, sit inside a far larger global push. In April, CATL said it had signed a three-year, 60 GWh sodium-ion supply agreement with Chinese storage integrator HyperStrong, which it described as the largest sodium-ion battery supply contract signed to date. CATL introduced a sodium-ion storage cell the same month built in the same format as its 587 Ah lithium iron phosphate cell, a design choice meant to ease integration into existing storage racks.

Sodium-ion cells replace the lithium carbonate used in conventional lithium-ion batteries with sodium, a more abundant material, trading some energy density for lower raw-material cost exposure and better performance in cold weather. That tradeoff has made the chemistry attractive for stationary grid storage, where space constraints matter less than in electric vehicles.

The European push also gives supply-chain analysts a direct point of reference against sodium-ion efforts tied to other battery makers active in North America, where domestic cell manufacturers have pursued the same chemistry for grid-scale storage contracts. CATL's approach in Europe has moved through integrator partnerships rather than direct utility contracts, routing its cells to the grid through companies such as Intilion, Alfen and Solarpro rather than selling storage systems under its own name.

No regulatory approval is required for the Intilion agreement, since it is a private commercial arrangement rather than a government-backed procurement contract. The companies have not named a start date for construction or deployment of any project under the new sodium-ion target, nor said which of the three DACH markets would receive capacity first.

The companies have not published a timeline for converting the 3 GWh target into signed project contracts, and neither CATL nor Intilion has disclosed a cell or system price for the sodium-ion products covered by the agreement. It also remains unconfirmed whether the arrangement is governed by a standalone contract or amended terms within the May 2025 framework.

For buyers comparing suppliers across the two chemistries, the distinction matters for procurement timelines as much as for cost. Lithium-ion TENER orders under the 2025 framework already have a five-year delivery horizon; the new sodium-ion target runs on the same five-year clock from the Oct. 9 announcement, meaning any individual project contract has yet to be negotiated separately.