BYD Energy Storage has locked in 11.275 GWh of battery deliveries for Masdar’s Round-the-Clock (RTC) renewable project in Abu Dhabi — the largest solar-plus-storage plant in the world and one of the biggest single storage procurements ever signed.
A 5.2 GW solar array paired with 19 GWh of storage
The RTC project pairs a 5.2 GW photovoltaic field with a 19 GWh battery system to dispatch 1 GW of continuous baseload power. Masdar and Emirates Water and Electricity Company want the plant delivering renewable power 24 hours a day starting in 2027, an operational profile solar has never achieved at gigawatt scale. BYD’s share is a single storage station rated 1,644 MW / 11,275 MWh built on the company’s Haohan platform; Sungrow has already signed for the remaining 7.5 GWh.
The Haohan Blade Battery advantage
BYD’s Haohan system leans on the company’s 2,710 Ah Blade cell – more than 300% higher capacity than legacy grid-storage cells – to slash battery-management complexity by 70–80% and pack 10 MWh into a standard 20-foot container. The units are IP66-rated for desert dust and validated from -30°C to 55°C. A single GC Master energy management system can supervise up to 15 GWh in one station.
Chinese suppliers dominate a Gulf storage boom
Between BYD and Sungrow, Chinese vendors now own the full 19 GWh of RTC storage — despite Masdar initially naming CATL as its preferred supplier in 2025. BYD also recently landed a 12.5 GWh grid-scale order in Saudi Arabia, part of a broader Gulf sweep that mirrors ACME’s multi-GWh Rajasthan BESS rollouts and BC Hydro’s Canadian storage push. Cell-to-pack integration is proving to be a decisive advantage over Western battery makers.
Reporting based on coverage from Electrek, CnEVPost, SolarQuarter and Renewable Energy Industry.