U.S. utility Duke Energy said on Wednesday it had cut off the connection of a large battery produced by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. to the Marine Corps Camp Lejeune in North Carolina due to potential security threats. CATL severely refuted this.
According to a press release issued by Duke Energy in April, the company used batteries from CATL in the facility it leased at Camp Lejeune. This triggered criticism from more than two dozen Republican lawmakers, led by Senator Marco Rubio. Rubio sent a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last week asking him to "immediately reverse" the decision to install the batteries.
"This project raised a number of concerns," Duke Energy said in a statement Wednesday. "As a result, the company has disconnected these batteries while we work to resolve these issues." The company added that the system was designed with "safety in mind" and that the batteries "do not have any connection to the Camp Lejeune network or other systems."
However, Duke Energy did not disclose when the battery was disconnected or how long the battery would be offline.
CATL refuted Duke Energy's action of cutting off the battery connections, saying the accusations that CATL's batteries posed a potential safety threat were false and misleading.
CATL said that the company’s business and products in the United States will not collect, sell or share data in any way. Moreover, CATL’s products have passed rigorous safety and security reviews, including reviews by U.S. authorities and companies. In addition, the energy storage products sold by CATL to the United States only contain "passive" equipment and are not equipped with communication interfaces. Passive devices are components that cannot control the flow of electricity through another electrical signal.
Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said China "has always opposed the United States' politicization of trade and investment cooperation."