Multiple leading battery cell companies' planned production volumes have reached historic highs, and the global energy storage installation growth rate may exceed 40%

[Global Times Finance, Comprehensive Report] Wind data shows that many leading cell enterprises have set new production schedule highs since the beginning of the year; some companies did not halt production throughout the entire Spring Festival holiday of the Year of the Horse. In February, the winning bid average price of 4-hour energy storage systems used for large-scale energy storage power stations has returned to above 0.5 yuan/Wh. Many institutions have reached a consensus that the year-over-year growth rate of global energy storage installations in 2026 will not be lower than 40%.

The China Business Industry Research Institute recently published an article stating that against the backdrop of global energy transition and the surge in AI computing power demand, in 2026, the global newly installed capacity of new energy storage is expected to maintain high growth of more than 60%, which brings clear opportunities for China’s energy storage industry. Robust demand in overseas markets has become the core driving force pulling China’s energy storage battery exports.

China is the world’s largest energy storage application market, and the industry’s growth momentum is strong. According to CNESA DataLink’s global energy storage database, as of the end of 2025, China’s cumulative installed capacity of new energy storage reached 144.7GW, up 85% year over year. China’s newly added cumulative installed capacity of new energy storage first exceeded 100GW, with cumulative installed capacity about 45 times that at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan.

The “2025-2030 Global and China Energy Storage Lithium Battery Market Status Quo and Future Development Trends” released by the China Business Industry Research Institute shows that in 2025, global energy storage battery shipments achieved strong growth driven by the accelerated transition of overseas power systems and the rapid expansion of renewable energy installation scale; full-year shipments reached 651.5GWh, representing a significant year-over-year increase of 76.2%. Analysts at the China Business Industry Research Institute predict that by 2026, global energy storage battery shipments are expected to exceed 700GWh.

Among the top ten energy storage battery shipment companies worldwide in 2025, all are Chinese companies. CATL ranks first globally with a market share of more than 26%. The companies included in the TOP10 list also include EVE Energy, Amperex Technology (Xiamen), BYD, Ruipu Lanjun, Contemporary Amperex Technology, Farasis Energy, Gotion High-Tech, Hubei Chuteng, and Power Star.