On August 28, Great Power released its latest all-solid-state battery product. The all-solid-state battery, known as a "major breakthrough", is Great Power's first-generation solid-state battery. It uses a different technical route from lithium battery giant CATL: the oxide technology route, with an energy density of up to 280Wh/kg.

Great Power said that the battery uses an electrolyte wet coating process, and the overall cost is expected to be only about 15% higher than the cost of conventional lithium batteries. "In the next 3-5 years, as the process continues to be optimized and materials are further reduced in cost, it is expected to reach the same cost as conventional lithium batteries."

Great Power also gave a mass production schedule at this press conference: pilot R&D and small-scale production will be launched in 2025, and a production line will be officially established and mass production will be launched in 2026. This is even higher than the target previously disclosed by CATL (small-scale mass production of solid-state batteries in 2027).

Plans for mass production next year, but faces funding problems

In July this year, Great Power disclosed its capital expenditure plans related to solid-state batteries. The announcement shows that the company plans to build an energy storage cell and system integration project with an annual output of 10GWh and a semi-solid battery project with an annual output of 1GWh in the Chahar High-tech Development Zone in Ulanqab. The fixed asset investment in the semi-solid battery project is approximately 500 million. Yuan.

According to disclosures, the semi-solid-state battery project is scheduled to start construction in May 2025 and be put into production in July 2026. The 2024 semi-annual report just released by Great Power shows that the company's revenue and net profit dropped significantly in the first half of the year. During the reporting period, the growth rate of Great Power's accounts receivable was higher than the growth rate of operating income. At the same time, the company's net cash flow from operating activities, net cash flow from investing activities, and net cash flow from financing activities were all negative, and the net cash flow was -876 million yuan, a sharp drop of 1307.88% year-on-year. To make matters worse, the company's profits from Great Power have continued to decline since the third quarter of 2023, from 275 million yuan to 42 million yuan.

According to the annual report, Great Power's current operating activities cannot cover the demand for investment funds, financing channels are tightening, and investment in solid-state batteries is high. Based on this, the company's planned semi-solid-state batteries, which are mass-produced before solid-state batteries, may face financial pressure first.

In the Red Ocean, seeking differentiated competition

According to Great Power's 2023 annual report, the solid-state batteries developed by the company may first be used in electronic products. The announcement shows that Great Power is developing "the preparation of flexible ultra-thin solid-state electrolytes and solid-state battery technology." The purpose of the project is "with the rise of wearable electronics and flexible electronic devices, there is a demand for flexible, thin, and highly safe battery technology." Continuously increasing. Traditional liquid electrolyte lithium-ion batteries are gradually being challenged due to problems such as poor safety, large size, and heavy weight. Solid-state batteries have become a hot spot in research due to their high safety, flexibility, thinness, and other characteristics."

Great Power said that based on the project research results, the company will be able to develop solid-state battery products with high performance, high safety and flexibility. This will enable the company to differentiate itself in the market by offering innovative solutions that differ from traditional products.

For the red ocean of solid-state batteries, many companies have gathered together to lay out their plans. Not only listed companies CATL, Sunwoda, EVE, and Gotion have announced their respective solid-state battery plans; there are also unlisted battery factories manufacturing semi-solid products, such as Weilan New Energy and Qingtao Energy. On the application side, Weilan New Energy’s semi-solid products are used in energy storage. Dongchi New Energy’s orders come from electric ships and energy storage projects. In addition, eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) is also a potential candidate for solid-state batteries. One of the application scenarios.