He has to fight against CATL and BYD at the same time.

A super large order worth over 45 billion yuan has once again put Chueneng New Energy, a rising star in the new energy industry founded just four years ago, in the spotlight of the industry.

Many people have heard that Zeng Yujun, the chairman of CATL, has the words "Strong Gambling Spirit" hanging in his office, and his courage and skill in taking risks. However, Dai Deming, the chairman of Chueneng, is even more daring in taking risks than Zeng Yujun.

Wanting It All

Chueneng New Energy Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Chueneng) was established in Xiaogan, a second - tier city in Hubei Province, in August 2021. It specializes in the R & D, production, and marketing of new energy storage batteries, power batteries, and energy management systems.

For new energy enterprises, the year 2021 was an awkward time. The industry was already dominated by giants, who had built high - entry barriers. From CATL with a market value in the trillions to several small leading companies with market values in the hundreds of billions, Chinese new energy battery enterprises have long dominated the world rankings, and their positions are even more solid than those of new energy vehicle manufacturers.

However, Chueneng knew the risks but still forged ahead, and its actions immediately shocked the entire industry.

In December 2022, Chueneng, which had been established for just over a year, launched the industry's first "Silent Immersion" battery safety system, stunning the audience and achieving instant fame.

Electrochemical energy storage has always been a high - risk area for fires. According to incomplete statistics from the China Energy Storage Network, there have been more than 40 relevant fire accidents at home and abroad in recent years, resulting in significant property losses and casualties.

The "Silent Immersion" battery safety system creatively uses a liquid inhibitor to completely "immerse" the area at risk of thermal runaway, thus preventing the spread of fire. It can issue an alarm within 3 seconds, initiate fire - suppression actions within 10 seconds, and complete the immersion of the battery pack with the liquid inhibitor within 70 seconds.

Due to its outstanding safety performance, the system won the "Outstanding Energy Storage Technology Award" in 2023. Relevant papers were published in the "Fire Science and Technology" journal, and it passed the marine fire - protection certification of the China Classification Society. Currently, it has been applied in projects such as the second - phase demonstration project of Qingyun Energy Storage of Three Gorges Energy and the wind farm in Jiuquan, Gansu.

▲ Source: Hubei Daily 

Being more aggressive and reckless than the giants is Chueneng's second strategy to break into the market.

In August 2023, Chueneng dropped a "reckless" bombshell, announcing that the company would sell 280Ah battery cells at a price of 0.5 yuan/Wh, nearly half of the then - market price of 0.9 yuan/Wh.

Although competitors scolded Chueneng for "crushing competitors and exhausting itself," and it was hard to say that Chueneng could make money at this price, it did succeed in seizing market share.

Its extreme cost - effectiveness has not only won orders from central and state - owned power groups such as PowerChina, CNNC Huineng, and China Energy Engineering Group but also attracted leading global energy storage system manufacturers such as Trumax, Sungrow, and Hibox Energy.

By 2024, Chueneng, which had been established for just three years, had won over 30GWh of domestic and international energy storage orders, with a shipment volume of over 20GWh, ranking eighth in the global energy storage battery shipment volume.

In 2025, its momentum was even stronger. In just the first three quarters, its energy storage battery shipment volume exceeded 50GWh, 2.5 times that of the whole of last year.

Moreover, Chueneng is not only competing in the domestic market. In May this year, it signed a strategic cooperation agreement for 2.5GWh with Immersa in the UK. In July, it won the bid for a 340MWh energy storage project in Honduras, and in October, it exported a 1020MWh energy storage system to Bulgaria.

▲ Export to Bulgaria, Source: Hubei Daily 

Currently, Chueneng's energy storage business covers more than 60 countries and regions around the world. Its orders are scheduled until June next year, with a cumulative order volume of over 100GWh. Its business in Europe, a mature market, accounts for the highest proportion, and it has even been called the "power bank" of Europe by the media.

Reports show that at its peak, it received up to 22 groups of customers in a single day.

However, Chueneng's ambition is not limited to energy storage batteries.

New energy lithium - battery products are mainly divided into two categories: energy storage batteries used in power systems, industries, and commerce, and power batteries for vehicles. In the field of power batteries, Chueneng is also making rapid progress.

In 2024, Chueneng's lithium iron phosphate power batteries have reached cooperation agreements with several vehicle manufacturers, including Dongfeng Motor, Xiamen Golden Dragon, and Jimei New Energy. In October this year, Chueneng ranked 12th in the list of domestic power battery loading volume of vehicle manufacturers.

While focusing on energy storage batteries and researching power batteries, just when people thought that Chueneng would eventually compete with CATL, the industry leader, in June this year, it announced big news: it was going to enter the automotive field and planned to produce extended - range SUVs.

"The company plans to gradually expand from the R & D and manufacturing of power batteries, energy storage batteries, and energy management systems to the development and manufacturing of new energy passenger vehicles," founder Dai Deming publicly stated.

This means that it not only challenges CATL head - on but also aims at BYD, and hopes to become the second vehicle manufacturer that "self - supplies batteries."

Behind it is a cross - border king and the full support of Hubei Province.

The Cross - border King

Dai Deming, the founder of Chueneng, is a cross - border genius.

In 1986, as a "talent useful for both military and civilian purposes," he was discharged from the army and transferred to the Hardware, Electrical Appliance, and Chemical Co., Ltd. in his hometown of Yichang. He gradually worked his way up to become a business manager and was awarded the title of "Outstanding Youth in Hubei Province" in the early 1990s.

In 1994, Dai Deming founded an electrical appliance sales company and successfully represented brands such as Gree and Midea, earning his first pot of gold. In 1997, when Dong Mingzhu established Hubei Gree Air - Conditioning Sales Company in Wuhan, he quickly joined in and became one of the four early shareholders.

By the end of the 1990s, Dai Deming was already the largest air - conditioning distributor in Hubei Province. However, he did not rest on his laurels. In 2000, he entered the automobile distribution field and founded Hubei Hengxin Delong Industrial Co., Ltd. in Wuhan.

At that time, 4S stores were just emerging, and the domestic automobile market was about to take off. He made large - scale investments and established more than 300 4S stores, representing mid - to high - end brands such as Mercedes - Benz and BMW, and successfully seized the opportunity to make a fortune.

After that, he also diversified into real estate, hotels, and investments, forming a diversified business layout, and his personal wealth increased significantly.

In October 2020, with a fortune of 3.3 billion yuan, Dai Deming ranked 1631st on the "Hurun Rich List 2020." Even more remarkable was the empire he built.

After more than 20 years of development, with a main business income of nearly 80 billion yuan, Hengxin Automobile Group has long been one of the top five automobile distributor groups in China. It provides more than 21,000 jobs and covers more than 50 cities in 15 provinces across the country.

▲ Source: Hubei Daily 

As Dai Deming's business grew, his pursuit also became higher.

In 2021, guided by the "dual - carbon" goal, the new energy industry was booming. Dai Deming made another cross - border move and founded Chueneng New Energy.

In the past, when he started businesses or changed industries, he was always able to spot opportunities in advance and ride the wave. However, the wave of the new energy industry had already passed, and he had never been involved in the manufacturing industry. Therefore, even his employees questioned this cross - border move.

However, he still dared to think and act quickly and invested tens of billions of yuan.

Seeing its "child" with such great ambitions, Hubei Province provided full support.

The Development and Reform Commission of Hubei Province directly listed Chueneng as a leading enterprise under key tracking and service, and worked with relevant departments and units to provide targeted services.

Local governments also spared no effort.

Xiaogan City launched a "dual - special - team, full - chain, embedded" guarantee service model. Several departments even moved their offices into the factory area to provide all - around support for Chueneng.

Xiangyang City established a "service special team" for the Chueneng project, mobilizing the forces of various departments and regions to respond around the clock. They even stayed on - site, ate, and lived there to quickly solve problems and accelerate the project construction.

These intensive and sincere policies not only aim to "help Chueneng get on the horse" but also "give it a ride." Chueneng has lived up to expectations and is accelerating the project progress.

The two sides are working together to expand the new energy industry map of Hubei.

Speed is Paramount

It's incredibly fast.

In 2022, with an investment of 137.5 billion yuan, Chueneng planned three industrial bases in Jiangxia, Wuhan, Xiaogan, and Yichang in Hubei Province, with a designed total production capacity of 350GWh.

This investment scale ranks among the top in the entire industry. What's even more amazing is the high - speed progress of such a large - scale project.

By August 2023, the first - phase projects of the three bases were all put into operation, with 14 module PACK production lines and 27 automated battery production lines. It can produce battery cells, large - scale energy storage containers, and other products. The entire project was completed in just one year.

This amazing "Chueneng speed" effectively made up for the disadvantage of missing the early opportunity.

▲ Chueneng Yichang Base, Source: Hubei Daily 

By the end of 2024, the effective production capacity of the three bases had exceeded 110GWh, ranking among the top five in the country.

While deploying large - scale production and manufacturing, Chueneng also recruited talents from all over the country based on China's leading new energy battery industry talent pool and quickly established a R & D team of more than 2,000 people, following the path of "producing one generation, reserving one generation, and researching one generation."

Today, in just four years since its establishment, Chueneng has submitted nearly 5,000 global lithium - battery patents and passed more than 200 international certifications, including 60 safety certifications.

With strong technological strength, Chueneng's product iteration is very fast. Since the release of its first lithium - battery product, "Chueneng No. 1," in May 2022, it has independently developed more than 40 energy storage and power - battery products.

In the field of energy storage, starting from 280Ah, then 306Ah, 314Ah, 472Ah, and in September this year, the latest energy - storage - specific battery was released. The energy of a single battery has exceeded the limit of the winding process and reached 588Ah. Its mass energy density, volume energy density, and energy efficiency are all at the leading level in the industry, and it is more reliable, safer, and has a longer lifespan than previous products.

In terms of power batteries, Chueneng launched the "Everest" 6C fast - charging battery this year, which combines the advantages of "high safety, ultra - fast charging, and long - range." According to its official release, it can travel 600 kilometers after a 10 - minute charge, and its efficiency is very close to that of refueling a fuel - powered vehicle, giving it the confidence to compete with leading manufacturers.

▲ Press Conference of the "Everest" 6C Fast - charging Battery 

To improve efficiency, Chueneng also developed the "Transformable King Kong" system platform, which, with a highly modular design, enables flexible configuration and rapid deployment.

It can be freely combined and expanded like building blocks according to power, capacity, and other requirements. It can not only provide customers with "tailor - made" integrated solutions but also significantly shorten the delivery cycle.

Fast production and fast R & D have enabled Chueneng to quickly establish itself in the industry. What makes its competitors even more headache is that Dai Deming is very daring in taking risks.

High - risk Taker

According to statistics from the China Energy Network, in just four years, Chueneng's planned total investment in the battery sector alone has reached 159.5 billion yuan, with a total production - capacity target of 350GWh.

It should be noted that CATL, the leading company in both energy storage and power batteries, had a total sales volume of only 475GWh last year. From the very beginning, Dai Deming aimed to compete with CATL in the future.

Such a large - scale investment is already very risky. Dai Deming's greater risk - taking lies in the fact that while many new energy enterprises are seeking financing everywhere, he does not rely on external forces but