New Energy Storage Going Abroad

Mainland China accounts for most of the global energy storage demand, driven in the near term by regional requirements for new utility-scale wind and solar projects to include energy storage capacity. However, the Chinese market is entering an era of change.

However, as the US and Europe introduce related entry policies, battery companies are facing numerous international regulatory and legal challenges, making overseas expansion much more difficult.

(Yicai) July 18 -- Jiangsu Linyang Energy is planning to build energy storage facilities overseas, with Southeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East identified as the Chinese smart energy company's three key regions for international growth. Of them, Europe is the priority market, the firm's vice chairman told Yicai in a recent interview.

Since last year, leading Chinese battery companies such as CATL, Gotion High-Tech, EVE Energy, Envision AESC, Farasis Energy, and REPT have accelerated their steps to "go global."

In light of global market uncertainties, lithium battery companies are also beginning to seek diversified overseas expansion paths. CATL adopts a dual approach of "light and heavy assets" to actively expand overseas. CATL has built and is planning or constructing a total of eight factories overseas.

For energy storage, the new Chinese policy emphasized the need to remove energy storage as a prerequisite for renewable energy project grid connection, a requirement that has been a major driver for battery build. Nonetheless, BNEF still expects strong demand for batteries, as the policy doesn't explicitly require mandates to stop.