In recent years, the performance of Chinese energy storage companies in the international market can be described as strong, especially in 2024, many domestic energy storage companies have signed overseas bulk orders, showing a strong momentum of going overseas. Behind this phenomenon, it is not only the rapid growth of the global energy storage market demand, but also the continuous progress and strength of Chinese energy storage enterprises.
According to incomplete statistics from Caixin, since October 2024 alone, Chinese energy storage companies have signed more than 50 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of cooperation agreements with overseas customers, which is equivalent to a quarter of the cumulative sales of energy storage batteries in China in the first nine months of 2024. As of the end of October 2024, the total order size of Chinese energy storage companies in overseas markets has exceeded 95GWh. These orders are mainly from Australia, Europe and the United States and other markets, reflecting the growing influence of Chinese energy storage companies in the global market.
Among the many Chinese energy storage companies, the successful performance of representative companies such as CATL, Ruipu Lanjun and Sungrow in the international market is particularly eye-catching. As a leader in the global power battery market, CATL has been actively deploying overseas markets since 2017. In the third quarter of 2024, CATL's energy storage battery shipments exceeded 30GWh, of which about half came from the US market, showing its deep roots in the global market. In addition, CATL has also provided 310MW/1240MWh energy storage systems for Hecate Energy in the United States and 1.25GWh energy storage batteries for Grenergy in Spain, and participated in a number of important overseas projects.
Pictured: Sungrow, a leading solar energy storage company, signed a cooperation agreement with Fidra Energy, a British energy storage company (Source: Caixin).
In early November 2024, the company signed a strategic cooperation agreement with JUNGWOO Group, a South Korean chemical company, to provide no less than 5GWh of energy storage system products and 2GWh of energy storage cells. In addition, Ruipu Lanjun has supplied more than 70% of the batteries for the Waratah Super Battery Site energy storage project in Australia, which will be the largest energy storage battery project in the southern hemisphere. Sungrow has signed a 4.4GWh cooperation agreement with Fidra Energy, a British energy storage company, to build two benchmark independent energy storage power stations in the UK, which is expected to become one of the largest energy storage power stations in Europe.
The rapid expansion of overseas markets and the continuous growth of energy storage demand have made the global energy storage market show great potential. It is predicted that global energy storage shipments will reach 273GWh in 2024, of which about 70% of the demand will come from the international market. Compared with the domestic market, the product price and profitability of overseas markets also show obvious advantages. For example, the unit price of energy storage systems in the U.S. market is generally 1.3 to 1.4 yuan/Wh, while the average price in the domestic market is only 0.6 to 0.8 yuan/Wh, which makes the profitability of energy storage products of the same scale in overseas markets almost twice that of the domestic market.
However, despite the impressive performance of Chinese energy storage companies in overseas markets, they still face certain market risks. Especially in the U.S. market, with the uncertainty of the international political and economic situation, future policy changes may pose a challenge to the market entry of Chinese energy storage companies. For example, policy adjustments after Trump's election as president may bring more external pressure to Chinese energy storage companies. Therefore, in order to cope with these challenges, Chinese energy storage companies need to pay close attention to the changes in the global political and economic situation, flexibly adjust market strategies, and increase investment in technology research and development to improve product quality to enhance their competitiveness in the international market.
The strong momentum of China's energy storage companies going overseas is the result of a combination of factors. From the growth of demand in the global energy storage market, to the improvement of the company's own technical strength, to the increasing expansion of Chinese energy storage companies in the global market, all these factors have laid a solid foundation for the further development of Chinese energy storage companies in the international market in the future. With the continuous progress of technology and the further expansion of the market, Chinese energy storage companies will surely achieve more significant results on the international stage in the future.
