Chinese energy storage companies go global: soaring orders combined with a wave of overseas factory construction

Ask AI · How Should Energy Storage Companies Balance Scale and Profit When Expanding Overseas?

Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, April 7 News (Reporters Li Yu and Wang Chufan) At present, energy security and low-carbon transition are resonating together, and Chinese energy storage companies are accelerating their overseas expansion.

Since this year began, on the one hand, the global energy storage industry chain has been speeding up reconstruction, and domestic leading energy storage enterprises are accelerating their overseas localization by setting up manufacturing plants; on the other hand, Chinese energy storage companies’ overseas order volume and growth rate are impressive. The industry’s logic for going global has moved from exporting a single product to a deeper globalized upgrade in which production capacity, technology, and standards are coordinated and exported. Emerging markets such as the Middle East and Latin America have even become new driving forces for global energy storage growth.

Meanwhile, behind the acceleration of Chinese energy storage companies going overseas, issues such as industry profitability and compliance risk also need attention. How to balance scale and profit, and address problems such as localization risk, remains a core question for companies over the long term.

▍Supply Side: Chinese Energy Storage Companies Are Clustering to Set Up Plants Overseas for Localization

Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporters note that since this year began, Chinese energy storage companies have been accelerating their clustering to head overseas to land projects and build factories.

Specifically, in Europe, in March this year, Haisan Energy Storage completed the signing of a letter of intent with the Spanish government and plans to invest about 400 million euros (about RMB 3.181 billion) to build a large-scale battery and energy storage systems manufacturing plant. This factory focuses on the production of lithium iron phosphate battery cells and containerized energy storage system solutions, and is planned to commence operations in 2027.

In February this year, Sungrow announced it would invest in Europe to build its first manufacturing plant, with a total investment of 230 million euros (about RMB 1.829 billion). The plant will have manufacturing capacity of 20GW of photovoltaic inverters and 12.5GWh of energy storage systems per year.

Earlier, in January this year, CALB and the Portuguese government completed the signing of an investment contract. The company’s investment project is located in Sines, Portugal. It plans to build a lithium battery factory with a total investment of 2.067 billion euros (about RMB 16.440 billion). It is expected to be fully operational in 2028, and upon completion, it may have energy storage-related production capacity of 15GWh.

In emerging markets such as the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa, in January this year, Sungrow signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Egyptian government and Norwegian renewable energy company Scatec. The three parties will jointly advance a clean energy project with a total investment of more than $1.8 billion. This cooperation includes Sungrow investing in and building a plant in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

It is worth noting that, according to disclosures in Sungrow’s annual report, in 2025, the revenue share of the company’s energy storage systems was 41.81%, exceeding for the first time its photovoltaic inverter and other power-electronics conversion equipment. In the same period, the company’s revenue from overseas regions was RMB 53.992 billion, up 48.76% year over year, benefiting from its expansion into overseas markets for its energy storage business.

Also in January this year, Tuo Neng New Energy signed strategic cooperation agreements with WeaCan and Kemet in Egypt. It plans to supply, in phases, a total of 6GWh of energy storage system products to Egypt and announced that it will co-build an energy storage battery factory with Kemet. The project’s total investment is $200 million (about RMB 1.377 billion), with a planned annual capacity of 5GWh.

Tuo Neng New Energy’s president Huang Feng said, “In the next 2–3 years, we will deeply cultivate overseas markets to achieve global development. The company is involved not only in energy storage, but will also expand into other power-related products.”

In the U.S. market, specifically, in January this year, Longi Green Energy was reported to have formed a joint venture with precision energy company and a U.S. lithium battery supplier NeoVolta. The joint venture is NeoVolta Power, LLC. It also plans to build a production base for battery energy storage systems in Pendergrass, Georgia, in the United States.

In response, industry insiders analyzed to Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporters that the U.S. energy storage market demand is clear because factors such as outdated and weak traditional grid infrastructure, plus the growth in data center demand and the reshoring of local manufacturing capacity, are driving it. At present, companies such as Longi Green Energy and Autohes are exploring diversified and innovative paths through optimization of operating models and integration of resources, aiming to deepen their cultivation of the U.S. energy storage market.

Gao Chengyuan, head of the Zhancang Influence Research Institute, analyzed to Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporters that, for example, in the case of photovoltaic companies, they enhance pricing premium capability by building plants overseas, adopting integrated PV-plus-storage solutions, and positioning high-end product development. Lithium battery companies are accelerating “capacity going overseas,” reducing risks related to trade barriers through localized production and capital operations.

▍Demand Side: Emerging Markets Are Becoming New Momentum for Global Energy Storage Growth

Looking back at all of 2025, according to CNESA DataLink’s global energy storage database (incomplete statistics), in 2025 Chinese energy storage companies added overseas orders totaling 366GWh, up 144% year over year. Orders covered more than 60 countries and regions worldwide, and there were more than 70 Chinese energy storage companies going overseas. Core enterprises such as CATL, Sungrow, BYD, and Habo S 创 are accelerating their overseas expansion plans, with their business reaching key markets including Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East.

And this momentum continued into 2026. Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporters noted that since the beginning of this year, Chinese energy storage companies have continued to see a surge in orders in overseas markets.

Customs data show that in January–February this year, China’s inverter exports amounted to $1.66 billion, up 56% year over year.

According to data from the China Association of Automotive Power Battery Innovation, in the first two months of this year, China’s cumulative exports of power and energy storage batteries reached 48GWh, up 24.6% year over year. Among them, cumulative exports of energy storage batteries were 13.5GWh, accounting for 28% of total exports.

Also according to statistics from GCLP PV & Energy Storage, in January–February this year, Chinese energy storage companies secured nearly 50 orders overseas, with a total scale of more than 33.5GWh, up more than 45% year over year. The orders covered Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Behind these impressive export “performance reports,” a deeper trend has become evident: Chinese energy storage companies are accelerating their shift from exporting single products to an all-round globalized layout featuring capacity localization, technology export, and co-building standards.

In the view of Pengneng Technology’s CEO Tan Wen, as the industry chain gradually matures, market demand is also shifting from single products to diversified and integrated energy storage solution offerings. Therefore, most energy storage companies going overseas will experience role evolution—from energy storage equipment suppliers to energy storage solution providers, and then to energy operators.

Overall, in the current global energy storage market, China, the U.S., and Europe are expanding from a three-way dominance into broader regions; China has ranked first globally for four consecutive years in new installed capacity; and emerging markets have become new momentum for global energy storage growth.

At the recent 14th International Energy Storage Summit and Exhibition, Chen Haisheng, chairman of the board of the Zhongguancun Energy Storage Industry Technology Alliance and director of the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that as of the end of 2025, the cumulative installed capacity of global power energy storage already in operation was 496.2GW, with a year-on-year growth rate of 33.4%. The energy storage industry is facing a new situation of win-win cooperation worldwide. Global supply chain systems are accelerating their reshaping, shifting from prioritizing “globalization efficiency” to prioritizing “regionalized security.” The trend toward globalized, diversified, and full-lifecycle planning is clear.

Among them, emerging markets are accelerating their rise and becoming new momentum for global energy storage growth.

Specifically, in the Middle East, the construction of large-scale new energy bases is driving rapid growth in energy storage demand. In Latin America, system regulation pressure brought by a high proportion of renewable energy is pushing the energy storage market to expand faster. In Asia’s emerging markets, grid stability and rising power demand, along with policy support in multiple countries, are accelerating project implementation. In Africa, safe electricity supply and demand for renewable energy grid integration have become the main drivers.

Fang Yi, chief strategy analyst at Cathay Haitong Securities, believes that the essence of Chinese companies going overseas is, under the backdrop of a new global round of industry chain transfer, the process of Chinese industry occupying high value-added segments of the industry chain and moving toward deep globalization. Chinese companies are moving from product exports toward a system-level “capacity + brand + channels” overseas expansion, achieving a jump to high value-added segments at both ends of the “smile curve.”

▍Behind Chinese Energy Storage Companies Accelerating Their Overseas Expansion: Note These Tests and Risks

Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporters note that currently, leading Chinese energy storage enterprises are no longer blindly pursuing scale expansion, but are placing more emphasis on selecting and focusing on high-gross-margin markets. This also means that competition in overseas high-gross-margin markets may intensify.

Atters (Autohes) told Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporters that “the development of the large-scale BESS market in Europe is relatively fast and has become a core support for the company’s overseas business. Atters adheres to a profit-first strategy and focuses on high-gross-margin markets such as Japan, Europe, and Canada.”

According to a disclosure by Atters in March this year, as of December 31, 2025, Atters Energy Storage (e-STORAGE) had signed contracted orders on hand with an amount of $3.6 billion (about RMB 25.70 billion).

In a research briefing disclosed by Longi Green Energy in January this year, the company admitted frankly that it is conducting detailed sorting of market regions for the development of its energy storage business and further planning. “The domestic market and overseas European market, U.S. market, and Australian market will be the phased key markets for Longi Energy Storage’s business development.”

Meanwhile, Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporters found that some investors have raised concerns about whether the low gross margins in China’s domestic energy storage market would be transmitted to overseas markets.

Recently, Sungrow ran into the above question when receiving investor research. In response, the company said that on the supply side, it signs long-term cooperation agreements with core cell suppliers. Relying on the advantages of large-scale procurement, it can lock in cell prices within a certain period, and the price is clearly more competitive than the market. On the technology side, the company each year continues to reduce costs through various methods including technological innovation and supply chain coordination. On the client side, although price negotiations with customers are quite painful, we will keep working hard to ensure price transmission, and overall, customers recognize the value to us and our past service capabilities. “We believe the overall overseas situation can basically remain stable.”

Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporters also learned that currently, Europe has put forward higher requirements for localized production.

Among them, in its annual report, Penge Neng Technology stated: in the future, it is not excluded that relevant countries or regions may change their import trade policies and product certification requirements for lithium battery energy storage products, which may in turn have adverse effects on the company’s operations. The company will continue to build localized organizational structures in its target markets overseas to reduce the impact of trade barriers on its operating performance.

In addition, in recent years, periodic adjustments in demand in the residential energy storage market have caused significant differences across regions in overseas markets. According to CNESA statistics, based on the scale of newly added residential energy storage installations in typical regions from 2020 to 2025, Europe has seen a decline, while Australia has surged sharply.

Going overseas is an essential path that Chinese energy storage companies cannot avoid, and opportunities and challenges coexist. How to stand firm in the wave of globalization, steadily expand market presence, and go to broader overseas markets remains a core issue that relevant companies need to cultivate deeply over the long term.

(The Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily intern Dai Jiayi also contributed to this article.)

(Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily reporters Li Yu and Wang Chufan)