Five years of “blitzkrieg”: China’s energy storage path to a comeback

CATL’s energy storage order schedule has been extended to the first quarter of 2026; Haichen Energy’s energy storage orders have increased by over 250% year-on-year, with gross profit increasing by 1073.4% year-on-year in the first half of the year; EVE Energy has also made a significant investment in energy storage, investing nearly 20 billion yuan in energy storage bases in Jingmen, Hubei and Malaysia; TAICO Energy focuses on solid-state battery energy storage applications and exports

By 2025, China’s energy storage industry can be described as “dominantly dominant.” Data from InfoLink Consulting shows that in the first half of 2025, China will occupy all ten of the top ten positions in the global energy storage cell market. It’s worth noting that in 2020, Samsung and LG Chem were widely recognized as the world’s leading energy storage companies.

In five years, Chinese energy storage companies, represented by CATL, EVE Energy, and TAICO, have reversed the global energy storage landscape. Behind this blitzkrieg against South Korean giants lies the breakthrough of Chinese energy storage companies in core technologies and the full-scale explosion of market demand. It can be said that China’s rise to the top of the global energy storage industry is a two-way embrace of the progress of the times and individual hard work.

“LG Chem and Samsung SDI ranked first and second, together accounting for more than 40% of the market share, demonstrating the absolute leadership of South Korean companies in the global energy storage market at that time,” SNE Research stated directly in its “2018 Global Energy Storage Battery Shipments Report,” adding that South Korean companies were the leaders in the energy storage field.

It’s worth noting that by then, China’s new energy battery companies had already risen to prominence. According to data from China Business Intelligence Network, seven of the top ten power battery shipments in 2017 were Chinese companies, with CATL even surpassing Panasonic, Samsung SDI, and LG Chem to become the world’s number one in terms of installed capacity.

Why are Chinese companies like CATL and BYD able to dominate the power battery field, which has higher technical requirements, but are suppressed by Samsung SDI and LG Chem in the energy storage battery field, which has less stringent technical requirements?

The reason is simple: besides Samsung and LG having established their overseas channels and brands earlier, the fundamental reason lies in the differences in product performance caused by their technological approaches.

At the outset of developing energy storage batteries, Chinese and South Korean energy storage companies pursued different technological directions. Samsung SDI and LG Chem focused on ternary lithium batteries with higher energy density, while CATL and EVE Energy prioritized safety, low cost, and long lifespan as core indicators for energy storage from the beginning, thus choosing lithium iron phosphate, a technology that appears to be relatively outdated. Currently, they are even viewing solid-state batteries as the future development direction.

How significant is the difference?

In 2019, the energy densities of single ternary lithium batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries were 180Wh/kg and 120Wh/kg, respectively; their combined energy densities were 110Wh/kg and 80Wh/kg, respectively.

In other words, under the same volume conditions, lithium iron phosphate energy storage batteries can store at least 38% less energy than ternary lithium energy storage batteries.

At that time, the energy storage market was mainly concentrated in regions with strong demand for household energy storage, such as Europe and North America. These users were more concerned with storing as much electricity as possible in a limited space, so energy density and volume advantages became the core considerations for European and American customers.

Under this demand structure, the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) route widely adopted by Chinese companies is naturally at a disadvantage. Whether it’s CATL, EVE Energy, or Haichen Energy Storage, they struggle to compete in the global market with companies like Samsung SDI and LG Chem, which primarily use ternary lithium batteries, and can only linger on the periphery of the energy storage field for a long time.

It’s worth mentioning that although domestic companies were in a passive position at the time, they also began to pay attention to the next generation technology—solid-state batteries.

Solid-state batteries use solid electrolytes, which theoretically allow energy density to break through the physical limitations of existing ternary lithium and lithium iron phosphate batteries, with single-cell energy density potentially exceeding 400Wh/kg, while significantly improving safety and thermal stability.

Although still in the research and development stage around 2019 and unable to achieve effective competitiveness in home energy storage scenarios, its technological direction has laid the foundation for Chinese companies to achieve a “leapfrog development” in the future.

It was precisely at an era when the gap between ternary lithium and lithium iron phosphate batteries was significant that the potential of solid-state batteries gradually became an industry consensus and an important strategic reserve for Chinese energy storage companies to subsequently counterattack globally.

To break the monopoly of Samsung SDI and LG Chem, Chinese energy storage companies need an opportunity—a dual opportunity of technological breakthrough and market shift.

Breaking the deadlock with a blitzkrieg While South Korean research institutions and media were still basking in the joy of their local companies’ temporary lead, the balance of power in the energy storage sector had already quietly shifted – the fates of Chinese and South Korean energy storage companies were rapidly reversing.

With the accelerated development of the global new energy industry, the energy storage sector is undergoing a structural transformation—the demand center has shifted entirely from the residential to the industrial sector.

In 2020, global new energy power generation was approximately 2.96 trillion kilowatt-hours, accounting for 11.7% of total global power generation; by 2024, this figure had soared to approximately 12.2 trillion kilowatt-hours, an increase of over 300% in just four years.

However, new energy sources, such as photovoltaic and wind power, exhibit significant “time fluctuations”: photovoltaic power generation is abundant during the day but almost zero at night; wind power, on the other hand, is highly seasonal. In order to “smooth out peak loads and fill valleys” and maintain grid stability, energy storage systems have become indispensable, thus opening up an unprecedented development window for Chinese energy storage companies.

Unlike residential users who emphasize volume and energy density, industrial users prioritize cost, lifespan, and safety. From this perspective, the high-cost ternary lithium battery approach long adhered to by Samsung SDI and LG Chem is clearly unsuitable for the economic requirements of industrial applications.

Meanwhile, Chinese energy storage companies are also reaping significant technological benefits amidst this shift in user demographics.

At the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2019, CATL unveiled its CTP (Cell-to-Pack) technology, directly integrating a large number of cells into a complete battery pack, eliminating the module layer and significantly improving the energy density of lithium iron phosphate batteries.Six months later, BYD released its Blade Battery, which elongates the cells into long “blades,” serving as both energy sources and structural components, increasing the battery pack’s space utilization rate by over 50%.

Thanks to structural innovation, CATL’s CTP lithium iron phosphate battery packs have achieved an energy density of 160Wh/kg; BYD’s blade battery has also increased from 80Wh/kg to 140-150Wh/kg.

The structural revolution has made up for the energy density shortcoming, and coupled with the natural advantages of lithium iron phosphate in safety, lifespan and cost, Chinese energy storage companies have rapidly formed an overwhelming competitive advantage.

According to EVTank data, global energy storage battery shipments reached 369.8 GWh in 2024, with Chinese companies accounting for 93.5%, a further increase of 2.6% year-on-year. The market share of established giants such as Samsung SDI and LG Chem was further squeezed.

It is worth emphasizing that while lithium batteries continue to evolve, “solid-state batteries” have become the industry’s recognized next-generation key route.

Solid-state batteries, by using solid electrolytes, can theoretically significantly improve safety, energy density, and lifespan simultaneously. Their high stability, high temperature resistance, and high cycle potential make them widely regarded as the ultimate form of high-end energy storage and power batteries.

Although still in the industrialization ramp-up stage, Chinese companies have already demonstrated the ability to accelerate breakthroughs in solid-state battery materials, semi-solid-state processes, and mass production equipment, securing a strategic advantage for future energy storage technology iterations.

“The Japanese invented lithium batteries, the South Koreans scaled them up, and the Chinese made them number one in the world. If we weren’t number one, we wouldn’t have any value.” This statement by Zeng Yuqun of CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited) also applies to the energy storage sector—only a market like China’s can nurture global energy storage giants.

Firstly, China boasts the world’s fastest-growing new energy industry. As of July 2025, my country’s total installed capacity of renewable energy reached 2.171 billion kilowatts, accounting for nearly 60% of the country’s total installed capacity; among which, wind and solar power generation reached 1.36 trillion kilowatt-hours, accounting for 24.9% of the country’s total electricity generation.

“China installed capacity of new energy sources is increasing by 200 to 300 million kilowatts every year, creating a huge demand for energy storage,” said Chen Haisheng, chairman of the Zhongguancun Energy Storage Industry Technology Alliance. He pointed out that the development of wind and solar power creates a rigid demand for energy storage, which will directly drive the industry’s explosive growth.

Secondly, China’s AI industry is expanding rapidly. As of 2024, there were 196 AIDCs (AI Data Centers) built or planned nationwide. The power fluctuation of AI loads in data centers can reach more than 10 times, and energy storage systems can effectively smooth out this fluctuation. Therefore, they are no longer just backup power sources, but “necessities” for the power infrastructure.

The global surge in new energy and AI computing power has brought unprecedented strategic opportunities to Chinese energy storage companies. Chinese companies have not only addressed the energy density shortcomings of lithium iron phosphate batteries but have also proactively positioned themselves in future technologies such as solid-state batteries, enabling them to continuously consolidate their advantages throughout the industry’s evolutionary cycle.

Today, China’s energy storage industry has transitioned from a follower to a leader. Leveraging its performance and cost advantages, Chinese companies are continuously squeezing the market share of Japanese and South Korean manufacturers globally. Looking ahead, with the further acceleration of China’s new energy and AI industries, and guided by policy, China’s energy storage industry will usher in a new round of explosive growth—and breakthroughs in the industrialization of solid-state batteries will become a key competitive arena in the next stage.

From a passively pressured “marginal player” to a dominant force in global discourse, Chinese energy storage companies have achieved a blitzkrieg-like overtaking of Japan and South Korea in just five years. This success stems from Chinese companies’ commitment to the lithium iron phosphate battery route and their planning for the future of solid-state batteries, while also benefiting from China’s vast domestic market and industrial ecosystem. In short, China’s victory in energy storage is a result of both the tide of the times and the companies’ self-breakthrough.