Battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator Powin has announced a 3GWh purchase agreement with China-based lithium-ion battery supplier Rept.

Rept Battero, part of stainless steel and nickel firm Tsingshan Industry, has been validated as a supplier for Oregon-based Powin and will provide the firm with over 3GWh of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells in the next 12 months.

“As demand for electric vehicles and stationary storage continues to surge, building a diverse network of highly qualified suppliers is essential. REPT not only meets our extensive safety and performance requirements but also has the financial backing investment strategy and global footprint needed to successfully keep up with this booming industry,” said Stuart Bolland, Powin’s chief operating officer.

Rept is currently ranked as a Tier 2 suppler in Benchmark Mineral Intelligence’s widely-cited Tier system. Benchmark’s Tier 1 suppliers are CATL, Envision, BYD, LG Energy Solution, Panasonic, Samsung, SK Innovation and, as of mid-2022, Northvolt and Sunwoda.

Powin said Rept’s batteries have “…excelled at meeting key industry safety standards of UL1642, UL9540a, and UL1973, but have also fulfilled all the requirements put forth by Powin’s own evaluation framework”.

Powin’s previously-announced battery supply deals have been with a mix of Tier 1 and non-Tier 1. In 2020 it announced a procurement deal with CATL while it tied up deals with EVE Energy in 2021 and Norway-based company Freyr last year, with aims to start production in 2024.

The company has a battery lab in its home state, which it recently expanded, where it can test battery cell performance of lithium-ion technology but also newer chemistries which haven’t yet penetrated the grid-scale segment.

When asked about the firm’s approach to technology during a wide-ranging interview at Energy Storage Summit USA last month, Powin president Anthony Carroll told Energy-Storage.news:

“We have no concern around our LFP technology. If anything, I want to make sure that if somebody comes up with the next cool thing I want to either own it, think of it or buy it, so I don’t get outsmarted by another company.”

Read more news about Powin and its projects here, including the start of construction on the first utility-scale BESS in Idaho, its 1GW UK pipeline and groundbreaking on a 1.9GWh BESS in Australia, billed as the largest in the world.

The company has 6GWh of BESS in operation or construction and an additional contracted pipeline of 11GWh.