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US utility company Duke Energy is reportedly retiring industrial batteries made by Chinese company CATL, which is associated with a green energy project at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Additionally, according to Reuters, CATL has announced that it has decided to move forward with the civil and civil sector after U.S. lawmakers expressed national security concerns about CATL’s relationship with the Chinese government and its relationship with hackers targeting critical U.S. infrastructure such as the power grid. The company plans to phase out CATL products from the project.
“Working with policymakers and the Department of the Navy, Duke Energy has made the decision to retire the CATL battery energy storage system at Camp Lejeune and replace it with domestic or allied suppliers,” Duke Energy said in a statement to Reuters. said.
“By 2027, we will voluntarily transition away from the CATL battery energy storage technology designation,” the statement said, adding that the company supports a “robust U.S. supply chain.”
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This undated handout photo shows a sign at the entrance to Camp Lejeune, a U.S. Marine Corps base in eastern North Carolina.Under pressure from Congress, US power company Duke Energy plans to retire its produced energy storage batteries (U.S. Marine Corps/Document via Reuters/File Photo/Reuters Photo)
The decision comes in response to Duke Energy telling Fox News Digital in December that more than 20 House and Senate Republicans called on the Department of Defense to shut down the plant. This was done after it was admitted that the panel array’s CATL battery had been temporarily disconnected. Project and review whether CATL systems are installed on other U.S. military bases.
Reuters reported, citing sources, that Duke Energy met with staff of the House Select Committee on China in the first week of January to assuage lawmakers’ concerns. At least five executives, including one person, were dispatched.
Sources said executives told staff at the meeting that they were confident in the safety of CATL’s batteries, but also expressed a desire to address lawmakers’ concerns.
According to Reuters, executives revealed at the meeting that the company was also considering CATL batteries for about two dozen other projects.
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Battery energy storage systems leader and U.S. Marine Corps Brigadier General Andrew M. Knebel, commander of Marine Corps Installation East (MICEAST)-Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune, cut the ribbon during a ceremony at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. performed (U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Lriann Dauscher/Handout via Reuters/File Photo/Reuters Photo)
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the chairs of the bipartisan select committee, said in a statement to Reuters that Duke Energy is planning to use Camp’s CATL battery. He said he was glad that the move was made to abolish the law. Lejeune.
“Additionally, in a recent meeting with company executives, Duke committed to completely phasing out CATL products from its supply chain,” the lawmakers said.
Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Rubio have led more than 20 members of Congress to urge Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to halt the Camp Lejeune program and review the installation of CATL systems at other U.S. military bases. I was looking for it.
In a December letter, the lawmakers noted that CATL, which is based in China’s Fujian province, has close ties to the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party, and Chinese President Xi Jinping praised the company earlier this year.The letter quoted the following: Recent reports published The nonpartisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is sounding the alarm over the rapid expansion of CATL in the U.S. green energy market.
This illustration taken on December 9, 2022, shows a miniature power transmission tower and the Duke Energy logo. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/Reuters Photo)
Although the company is not state-owned, Chinese investors with ties to the Chinese Communist Party hold a financial stake in CATL, according to a New York Times review. The Chinese government has also taken strategic steps over the past decade to strengthen CATL and other electric vehicle companies based in China.
Additionally, Zeng Yuqun, who founded CATL in 2012 and is currently its CEO, announced last year that Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee. A U.S. government report released in 2018 said the CPPCC is a “key coordinating body” that brings together representatives of Chinese interest groups and is led by the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China.
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In March 2022, the political cooperative Highlighting Yuqun’s work with CATL Strengthen China’s lithium supply chain, which is critical for electric vehicle production and other green energy developments.
In September, US automobile giant Ford Motor Co. announced that it would suspend production activities. Building a $3.5 billion factory in Michigan They would have manufactured CATL battery cells using services provided by CCP-related companies.
FOX Business’ Thomas Catenacci and Reuters contributed to this report.
