March 6, 2025: Plans to develop 12.5 GWh of new BESS projects in Saudi Arabia have been announced by China-based BYD.

The energy storage battery giant said on February 17 it has signed a development deal with the Saudi Electricity Company.

The BESS equipment in the projects will be installed at five sites, with BYD Energy Storage supplying its new-generation MC Cube-T ESS, which uses its   CTS (cell-to-system) and Vcts (proportion of cell volume to system volume) exceeding 33%.

The company has said previously CTS removes the need for components such as modules and packs, instead directly integrating battery cells into the storage system. 

BYD said the deal comes 17 years after it delivered a pilot system to the Saudi market to evaluate the potential value of LFP-based battery storage systems coupled with the electricity network system. 

The projects will also support Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative, which has the goal of achieving a 50% renewable energy mix by 2030, BYD said.