Key facts
- CATL has committed US$1.46 billion to AI data center energy infrastructure investments.
- Investments include a controlling stake in Zhongheng Electric and a major stake in 21Vianet Group.
- Zhongheng Electric is a leader in China's data center HVDC power systems with major tech clients.
- 21Vianet Group operates over 50 data centers across China.
- CATL aims to replicate its successful EV battery supply chain strategy in the AI data center sector.
- Energy storage is projected to be half of CATL's global sales by 2030.
Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world's largest electric vehicle battery supplier, is making significant investments to establish a presence in the AI data center energy infrastructure market. The company has committed approximately US$1.46 billion across two major deals: a controlling stake in Zhongheng Electric, a leading Chinese provider of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power systems for data centers, and a substantial share in 21Vianet Group, a major Chinese internet data center operator.
These strategic moves signal CATL's ambition to replicate its successful vertical integration strategy from the EV battery sector into the burgeoning AI compute power supply chain. By securing positions upstream in energy storage and midstream in power conversion and distribution, CATL aims to become a comprehensive 'computing-power energy solutions provider.'
The investments provide CATL with immediate access to established customer pipelines. Zhongheng Electric supplies major tech firms like Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, and ByteDance, while 21Vianet Group operates a large network of data centers serving numerous enterprise clients. This allows CATL to integrate its energy storage and power conversion systems directly into existing procurement channels, bypassing lengthy qualification processes.
CATL's founder, Robin Zeng, has previously indicated that the data center energy market represents an opportunity ten times the size of the EV battery market. The company projects that energy storage will constitute half of its global sales by 2030. This expansion into AI data center energy infrastructure is seen as a deliberate strategy to capture a larger share of the value chain's margins, mirroring its approach in the battery industry.