According to the latest data from the Advanced Industry Research Institute (GGII), 2024 will become another key node in the development of China's energy storage lithium battery industry, with explosive growth in shipments and overseas market demand.
In 2024, global shipments of lithium batteries for energy storage will increase by more than 55% year-on-year, and China's shipments of lithium batteries for energy storage will perform even better, with a year-on-year increase of more than 60%. In terms of breakdown, the shipments of lithium batteries for power energy storage increased by more than 70% year-on-year, the shipments of lithium batteries for household energy storage increased by 25% year-on-year, and the shipments of lithium batteries for industrial and commercial energy storage increased by 40% year-on-year. This achievement is not only due to the vigorous development of the domestic new energy industry, but also closely related to the urgent global demand for clean energy.
The demand for China's energy storage lithium batteries in overseas markets is showing a hot trend. In 2024, China's energy storage lithium battery overseas orders will exceed 120GWh, and the orders are mainly concentrated in the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other regions, of which the demand from European and American owners accounts for as much as 73%. Among these large orders, almost all orders above GWh are taken by the top 10 companies in the industry. Driven by this, domestic leading lithium battery companies such as EVE, Hithium Energy Storage, and Ruipu Lanjun have accelerated their overseas market layout, and further consolidated their position in the international market by setting up headquarters, marketing centers or building factories in North America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other places.
At present, Chinese companies dominate the global energy storage lithium battery market. In 2024, Chinese companies will account for more than 90% of the world's energy storage battery shipments, and the top 10 companies in the world will be Chinese companies. The trend of iron lithiculture in global energy storage routes is becoming more and more obvious, which makes the market share of Japanese and South Korean companies fall out of the TOP10. In the domestic market, in order to enhance their competitiveness, battery cell companies have built comprehensive R&D strength, and some companies have also cut into the AC side, such as CATL actively participating in domestic project bidding, and Ruipu Lanjun investing in energy storage system integration projects. In order to cope with the fierce market competition, battery cell companies generally adopt strategies such as accelerating overseas expansion, cost control, binding large customers, and extending to the DC side, and some companies have achieved rapid growth in shipments with the help of 314Ah products.
Figure: China's energy storage lithium battery shipments in 2024 are outstanding, and the overseas market demand is hot
Looking forward to the future, the competition pattern of the energy storage lithium battery market will undergo profound changes. As technology continues to advance, new companies may enter the market with breakthrough technologies that disrupt the existing competitive landscape. On the one hand, leading companies will continue to increase R&D investment, consolidate technological advantages, and further increase market share by expanding diversified product lines and global market layout. For example, CATL may take the lead in emerging energy storage application scenarios, such as smart microgrids and distributed energy systems, by virtue of its advantages in R&D and production capacity, further widening the gap with other companies. On the other hand, second- and third-tier enterprises will seek survival and development space through differentiated competition, such as focusing on specific market segments and providing customized solutions. Some companies may focus on the small-scale industrial and commercial energy storage market, and develop more cost-effective and adaptable energy storage products according to the electricity consumption characteristics of small and medium-sized enterprises.
In different application fields, the competitive landscape will also show different trends. In the field of power energy storage, with the increase in the penetration rate of 314Ah cells, it is expected to account for more than 70% in 2025, and enterprises that grasp the core advantages of this technology will be more competitive in the bidding of large-scale energy storage projects. In the field of household energy storage, the focus of enterprise competition will be on the intelligence, safety and after-sales service of products, and enterprises that can provide integrated intelligent solutions and high-quality after-sales guarantee will be favored by more users. In the field of communication energy storage and data center energy storage, with the continuous expansion of 5G network construction and data center scale, higher requirements are put forward for the stability and reliability of energy storage lithium batteries, and enterprises with high-reliability product research and development capabilities will stand out.
Although the shipments of the energy storage lithium battery market will grow rapidly in 2024, the fierce price war has also led to the increase in profits of lithium battery and upstream material companies. The net profit attributable to the parent company of more than 6 lithium listed companies in China decreased by 40-60% year-on-year, and Japanese and South Korean battery companies are also facing great pressure, with a total operating loss of about 4.03 billion yuan in 2024. However, it has also prompted companies to accelerate technological innovation and cost control, and push the industry in a healthier and more sustainable direction. The concentration of the global energy storage lithium battery market has been further improved, with CR10 increasing from 88% in 2023 to 93%, and CATL, EVE and Hithium Energy Storage ranking among the top three in the world.
