China Mobile to Buy RMB 2.5 Billion of Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery

China Mobile announced the bidding announcement on March 4 for centralized procurement of lithium iron phosphate battery products for communications in 2020. The company plans to purchase a total of 610.2 million Ah (specification 3.2V) lithium communications batteries for telecommunications, and the procurement requirement gratification period is one year.

Lithium iron phosphate battery (LiFePO) is a type of lithium-ion battery using as the cathode material, and a graphitic carbon electrode with a metallic backing as the anode. The specific capacity of LiFePO is higher than that of the related lithium cobalt oxide chemistry, but its energy density is less due to its lower operating voltage. The main drawback of LiFePO is its low electrical conductivity. Because of the low cost, low toxicity, well-defined performance, long-term stability, etc. LiFePO is finding some roles in vehicle use, utility-scale stationary applications, and backup power.

China Mobile's bidding announcement shows that the project has set a maximum price limit of 2.508 billion yuan. If the bid price is higher than the limit asset, then the bidder would be rejected. It is understood that in the Radio and Television of the People's Republic of China initiated the national cable television network integration and radio and television 5G construction integration development work. As of now, there are more than 150,000 5G base stations nationwide.

China Unicom and China Telecom plan to complete the construction of 47 cities and 100,000 base stations in the first half of 2020 and plan to complete the construction of 250,000 base stations nationwide in the third quarter of this year.

China Mobile plans to build 300,000 5G base stations this year. According to industry estimates, China Mobile will build 300,000 to 350,000 5G base stations this year, and capital expenditures will increase by 6% to 176 billion yuan. As of the end of January, China Mobile has opened 74,000 5G base stations, and the number of 5G package users has reached 6.736 million.

The 5G base station is the core equipment of the 5G network and provides wireless coverage to realize wireless signal transmission between the wired communication network and wireless terminals.

The industry insider said that in 2020, 5G base station energy storage will add about 25Gwh of lithium iron phosphate battery demand, and the corresponding increase in demand for battery-level and ultra-pure dimethyl carbonate will be about 16,000 tons per year, which indicates that lithium iron phosphate batteries are once again popular.

• < Prev
• Next >