Shanghai (ZXZC)- On Jan. 16, Volkswagen Group China ("VW China") announced the cooperation with Jiangsu Huayou Energy Technology Co., Ltd. ("Huayou Energy"), a subsidiary of Chinese cobalt producer Huayou Cobalt, to launch the pilot project of "30kW78kWh full-time-domain active balanced cascade mobile energy storage system".

Founded in 2022, Huayou Cobalt is a Chinese high-tech enterprise specializing in the R&D and manufacturing of new energy li-ion battery materials and new cobalt materials.

Photo credit: VW Group China 

The newly-unveiled mobile energy storage system is built on VW Group's decommissioned ternary-lithium power batteries and adopts Huayou Cobalt's rapid sorting technology for retired power batteries. It also utilizes the highly efficient BMS (battery management system) technology, the full-time-domain equalization technology, and other patented technologies. While leaving the battery pack’s original structure unchanged, the two companies have co-developed digital control system for battery cascade applications to ensure safe running of energy storage equipment.

The new system is capable of power supplement, demand capacity increase, peaking shaving, as well as contingency for power use, achieving the optimal power operation through an intelligent matching approach.

The fresh energy storage system will be first used at factories of Huayou Cobalt, and is planned to be adopted by VW Group's manufacturing bases in China in the future.

The latest move came after VW Group China inked two memorandums of understanding with Huayou Cobalt and Tsingshan Holding Group in March 2022.

Under the tripartite MoU, the three companies would form a joint venture in Indonesia to produce cobalt and nickel materials to support EV battery output.

The other MoU was signed between VW Group China and Huayou Cobalt to create a separate joint venture in the south China region of Guangxi to refine nickel and cobalt sulfates.