On March 26, BYD officially launched its new generation of commercial and industrial energy storage product, the Chess Plus, featuring a liquid-cooled integrated cabinet. This innovative product has a core capacity of 233kWh and focuses on four key areas: enhanced safety protection, rapid return on investment, comprehensive scenario adaptability, and advanced intelligent operation and maintenance. It aims to address the current challenges faced in the commercial and industrial energy storage market.
The 233kWh Chess Plus utilizes a specialized thick blade cell (320Ah) with a cycle life exceeding 10,000 cycles and a Pack-level IP65 protection rating, achieving a system efficiency of up to 90%. In terms of safety, the thick blade cell has undergone extreme testing for overcharging and over-discharging. Its ceramic pole ensures excellent insulation, corrosion resistance, and aging resistance, which guarantees the static safety of the cell. The unique all-terminal ear design allows for more even current distribution and better heat dispersion, preventing localized overheating.
The Pack is equipped with IP65 protection and features an all-encompassing thermal safety system that includes built-in aerosol fire suppression and high-pressure liquid cooling pipes. The design promotes thermal separation and compartmentalization, which enhances the system’s stability and ensures comprehensive energy storage safety.
To address the common challenges in commercial and industrial energy storage projects—such as long payback periods (over 5 years) and risks associated with policy fluctuations (electricity price adjustments every 2-3 years)—BYD has introduced a “rapid return” closed-loop model. The intelligent liquid cooling system of the Chess Plus maintains a temperature difference of ≤2.5℃, extending the lifespan by 30% and reducing energy consumption by 20%. Additionally, the product is designed with a modular approach, which lowers installation and maintenance costs while enhancing return on investment due to improved efficiency.
In terms of scenario adaptability, BYD’s new energy storage product features an ALL in One minimalist design that integrates BMS, power distribution, EMS, EMCU, fire control, and AC modules into one super-integrated system, reducing system components by 55.6%. The modular design allows for flexible expansion based on demand, thus lowering initial investment costs. This simplified installation process can accommodate various spatial constraints, making it suitable for both the limited spaces of urban commercial facilities and expansive industrial parks.
Furthermore, BYD’s new product includes an intelligent operation and maintenance system that supports multiple operational modes, catering to applications such as photovoltaic storage, industrial parks, and microgrids. The intelligent liquid cooling system precisely controls temperature, ensuring uniformity across battery cells, PCS, and thermal management, achieving a system efficiency of 90%. It also employs high-performance computing equipment for early fault warnings, utilizing a hybrid architecture of cloud computing and local processing to enhance fault detection and optimize State of Charge (SOC) algorithms, thereby ensuring accurate and safe system operations.
As part of BYD’s third growth curve, the energy storage business has established a complete value chain from cell production to system integration and global project deployment. In its 2024 annual report, BYD highlighted two major research and development projects: the Cube Energy Storage System and the Liquid-Cooled Medium Voltage Cascaded Energy Storage System. In 2024, BYD is set to launch the liquid-cooled medium voltage cascaded energy storage system, with shipments made to the Southern Power Grid, marking it as one of the first domestic liquid-cooled cascaded energy storage demonstration projects. Furthermore, BYD aims to achieve the goal of becoming the leader in the global energy storage market, with its 2024 energy storage cell shipment volume ranking among the top four worldwide, while its clean energy business revenue continues to rise.
