Blue Whale Energy partners UNIGRID to deploy urban C&I Battery storage across Southeast Asia

SAN DIEGO, June 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Whale Energy, a Southeast Asia based virtual power plant energy developer, and UNIGRID, Inc., an advanced sodium-ion battery innovator, announced a partnership to deploy behind-the-meter commercial and industrial (C&I) battery energy storage system (BESS) solutions tailored for dense urban environments.

As solar installation rates soar globally, driven by falling costs, and progressive regulatory support, the electric grid is increasingly strained by the intermittent nature of solar energy and its mismatch with peak electricity demand. To bridge this gap, pairing solar with battery storage is essential.

However, in dense urban environments, where the need for such solutions is highest, deploying BESS has long been constrained by space limitations. Urban areas lack open spaces for large containerized battery systems, and require setback distances that typically exceed commercially available footprint and industrial building boundaries.

Blue Whale Energy is addressing this with a novel strategy: installing compact, modular battery packs directly beneath solar panels. This close-proximity co-location is unfeasible with traditional lithium-ion batteries, which pose serious fire risks and require complex and costly engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) infrastructure, including thermal management, specialized enclosures, and comprehensive fire safety mitigation.

UNIGRID's technology is inherently safer and operates over a wide temperature range without the need for active thermal management, offering the right solution to overcome this problem.

"This technology is a game changer for us," said Gabriel Lim, Founder and CEO of Blue Whale Energy. "With UNIGRID's sodium-ion platform, we can deploy energy storage directly where energy is needed - on commercial and industrial rooftops throughout urban cities where space constraints previously made installations unfeasible. This allows us to turn every roof into a dispatchable grid asset." 

"We're proud to support Blue Whale in building Southeast Asia's virtual power plant network, powered by distributed renewable energy and safe storage," said Darren H. S. Tan, CEO of UNIGRID Battery. "Such an approach allows us to open up new and untapped market opportunities in the BESS world."

Blue Whale Energy plans to deploy an initial 8 MWh of sodium-ion solar-plus-storage systems by the end of 2025. From 2026 onward, the partnership will expand across Southeast Asia, accelerating the region's energy transition with flexible, fire-safe, and space-efficient solutions.

** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **

Blue Whale Energy partners UNIGRID to deploy urban C&I Battery storage across Southeast Asia

SINGAPORE, Jan. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Produced by iQIYI, the historical epic series "The Unseen Qin Empire" was officially announced on January 9. The series brings together director Lü Xing, known for "Burning Ice", and screenwriter Chang Jiang of "The Advisors Alliance", and stars Chen Xiao, Zhang Xincheng, Dai Luwa, Dai Xu and Xu Hao, with special appearances by Wang Jinsong and Chen Shu. With film-level production values, the drama uncovers the thrilling, lesser-known stories behind the unification of the six states under China's first emperor Qin Shi Huang (personal name Ying Zheng). This is not treated as a sealed-off chapter of the past, but as an intense, character-driven retelling engraved in history, and a focused exploration of Eastern classical aesthetics.

The poster presents a newly designed, meticulously researched image of a Qin Dynasty grand hall, highlighting a creative distillation and reimagining of "Qin-era aesthetics" in all their grandeur, order and sharp intensity. Abandoning the lavish, colorful look typical of traditional historical dramas, it adopts a minimalist black-and-gold palette and rigorous architectural composition, aiming to make every architectural line, contrast of light and shadow and ornamental pattern a vehicle for conveying the spirit of that era. It seeks to deliver to global audiences a visual language of "order, power and systems", translating Eastern historical perspectives into a visual narrative that can be broadly understood, and reflecting a confident, outward-looking cultural dialogue.

"The Unseen Qin Empire" is expected to premiere in late 2026. The release of this international poster is not only the drama's first public appearance, but also a clear statement that Chinese historical dramas are moving with confidence toward the center of the global stage with a new aesthetic language, deeper thematic ambition and industrial-level production standards, inviting audiences worldwide to explore enduring Qin-era questions of order and civilization.

** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **

iQIYI Announces "The Unseen Qin Empire," Opening a New Path for Chinese Historical Drama