Energy-storage cell shipment ranking: Top five dominates still

The world shipped 196.7 GWh of energy-storage cells in 2023, with utility-scale and C&I energy storage projects accounting for 168.5 GWh and 28.1 GWh, respectively, according to the Global Lithium-Ion Battery Supply Chain Database of InfoLink. The energy storage market underperformed expectations in Q4, resulting in a weak peak season with only a 1.3% quarter-on-quarter growth.

The top 5 companies shipping the most in 2023 remained CATL, BYD, EVE Energy, REPT BATTERO, and Hithium. CATL led with shipments exceeding 70 GWh. BYD and EVE Energy followed closely each with shipments of over 25 GWh, while REPT BATTERO and Hithium each ranked fourth and fifth with shipments of over 15 GWh. Despite intense price competition, the leading companies demonstrated significant cost control advantages, reinforcing the "the strong get stronger" pattern. The CR5 in 2023 reached 76.7%, up from 68.7% in 2022, indicating a substantial increase in industry centralization among the leading companies. The top six to ten manufacturers all ship less than 10 GWh each. CR10 in 2023 reached 92%, up from 86.7% in 2022, meaning significantly higher industry centralization. Additionally, Samsung SDI and LG’s energy-storage cell shipments totaled nearly 14 GWh in 2023, translating to a slightly lower market share of 7%.


 

For utility-scale energy storage, CATL, BYD, EVE Energy, Hithium, and REPT BATTERO shipped the most in 2023. CATL shipped more than 65 GWh and the rest less than 22 GWh. With energy-storage cell prices reaching RMB 0.4/Wh for utility-scale, leading manufacturers with superior cost-control capability and financial advantages are more capable to afford cutting-edge cell technology R&D. In addition to capacity improvement and customer verification, leading manufacturers introduced large-capacity cells with stacking technology while working on system integration on the DC-side, hoping to break away from the bloody price war and pursue differentiation amid intense industry competition.


 

As for small-scale energy storage projects, CATL, REPT, EVE Energy, BYD, and Great Power shipped the most. The top 5 list remained unchanged in the first three quarters of 2023. The CR5 rose by 0.4% from 84.7% in the first three quarters to 85.1% throughout the year. Tier-1 manufacturers faced intense competition. CATL (including Ampace) held a market share of 26.3%. Market shares of the second to the fifth range fell by 12-17%, indicating increasingly fierce rivalry. Due to inventory adjustments throughout the year, the small-scale energy storage sector showed slower growth than in 2022, with a 27.7% year-on-year increase, much lower than expectations. Currently, inventory depletion will continue until 1Q24 or 2Q24. Actual shipments will recover by the end of 2Q24. 


 

In 2023, policy shifts, inventory depletion, raw material prices, and overcapacity resulted in supply-demand mismatch and fluctuating market sentiment. Despite a 150% year-on-year increase in the global energy-storage installation, shipments only rose by 60% year-on-year during a correction. InfoLink sees global energy-storage installation increase by 50% to 165 GWh and energy-storage cell shipments by 35% to 266 GWh in 2024.