All of the world's top six are Chinese companies! With electricity reform at home and an AI wave abroad, China's energy storage industry is entering a boom cycle.

All of the world's top six are Chinese companies! With electricity reform at home and an AI wave abroad, China's energy storage industry is entering a boom cycle.

With the deepening of domestic electricity market reforms and the surge in global artificial intelligence (AI) data center construction, Chinese energy storage battery manufacturers are ushering in a new round of robust growth, further consolidating their leading position in the global supply chain.

Estimates show that Chinese companies’ global shipments of energy storage lithium batteries are expected to soar by 75% this year. In the rankings of global energy storage cell suppliers for the first three quarters of this year, all top six are from China, marking this industry as one of China’s most competitive clean technology export sectors.

This explosive growth is due to a dual logic at home and abroad: internationally, the AI boom has sharply increased data center power demand, driving reliance on “solar + storage” solutions; domestically, key electricity market reforms launched in June have improved the economics of energy storage projects, turning previously idle facilities profitable and significantly boosting equipment demand.

This year, China’s exports of energy storage and electric vehicle batteries have exceeded US$66 billion, surpassing solar products to become the most lucrative clean tech export commodity. Analysts note that, despite potential trade barrier risks brought by geopolitics, as global orders surge, leading firms are using intense “double shifts” production schedules to meet cell demand.

AI Boom and Global Demand Surge

The acceleration of global energy transition and the explosion of AI computing power are reshaping the demand curve for energy storage. Last month, UBS raised its forecast for global battery storage installations in 2026 by 25%. The International Energy Agency (IEA) also predicts that investment in global battery storage facilities will grow by 16% this year, reaching US$66 billion.

UBS analyst Yishu Yan stated at a recent press briefing that combining solar power with energy storage has, in practice, become the only solution to meet electricity demand for American AI data centers. Yan said:

“Power demand from US AI data centers is extremely strong, but power supply is the biggest bottleneck, and baseload sources like natural gas, nuclear, and thermal power are not expected to grow significantly in the next five years.”

Although Tesla is globally leading in energy storage system integration, the tiny yet core cells inside its systems are dominated by Chinese production. This means the bulk of the benefits from global energy storage investment growth will be captured by Chinese companies.

Sweeping the Global Top Six, Absolute Supply Chain Dominance

According to ranking data from consulting firm Infolink for January to September this year, the world’s top six cell suppliers are all Chinese companies: CATL, Hithium, EVE Energy, BYD, CALB, and REPT BATTERO. Among the top ten, only Japan’s AESC ranks as a non-Chinese company.

Not only is market share concentrated, company performance growth is also significant. EVE Energy’s storage sales volume grew 35.51% year-on-year in the first three quarters, while REPT BATTERO’s total battery shipments hit a record high in Q3. As EV giants, CATL and BYD have not separately disclosed their energy storage shipments for the first three quarters, but the share of storage in their revenue keeps rising.

Cosimo Ries, analyst at policy research firm Trivium China, commented:

“These leading storage cell manufacturers are holding plenty of orders. To meet demand, factories are basically running double shifts now.”

He believes the boom in energy storage is “one of the biggest surprises of China’s energy sector this year.”

Electricity Reforms and Subsidy Policies Catalyze Domestic Market

In addition to robust exports, changes in China’s domestic policy environment have also injected vitality into the sector. China now possesses the world's largest scale of battery energy storage, accounting for about 40% of the global total. However, due to previously lacking profit models, many storage facilities were once idle.

This situation turned around with electricity market reforms in June. According to the National Energy Administration notification, starting June 1, 2025, all new renewable power projects will sell electricity via market-based auctions rather than fixed rates. This shift will break regional barriers, expand interprovincial and cross-regional trading scale, and help optimize national distribution of power resources. According to China Electricity Council data, after the reform, storage power plants’ average daily operation time rose significantly in Q3 to 3.08 hours, up 0.78 hours year-on-year.

Furthermore, since the end of 2024, ten provinces have launched capacity pricing policies, paying suppliers special fees for backup capacity. Paired with the government’s plan to double battery storage scale by 2027 with US$35 billion investment, this greatly improves project economics. Jefferies analyst Johnson Wan commented in a report that this is “the most decisive policy shift for the storage sector in over a decade.”

Exports Surpass Solar, Ongoing Growth Cycle

According to data from think tank Ember, in the first 10 months of this year, China exported a record US$66.761 billion of batteries (including EV and energy storage batteries). Since 2022, batteries have overtaken solar PV products as China’s most profitable clean tech export.

Looking forward, this growth trend is expected to continue. Consulting firm Infolink forecasts next year the global shipment of energy storage cells may reach 800 GWh, rising 33% to 43% from this year’s projection.

Meanwhile, energy storage battery exports are growing faster than EV batteries. According to China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance data, in the first 11 months of this year, exports of energy storage and other non-vehicle batteries grew 51.4% year-on-year, outpacing EV battery exports’ 40.6% increase. This indicates that, outside of the EV market, energy storage is becoming a new growth engine for China’s battery industry.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market carries risks, and investment requires caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account the individual user's specific investment objectives, financial circumstances, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, viewpoints, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific situation. Any investment made is at your own risk.