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Tier 2 battery producers double down on energy storage market amid EV competition","chinese-tier-2-producers-double-down-on-energy-storage-market-amid-ev-competition","article/chinese-tier-2-producers-double-down-on-energy-storage-market-amid-ev-competition",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":566,"content":576,"excerpt":696,"featured":51,"reporter":697,"_editable":701,"component":702,"seo_title":553,"categories":703,"visibility":710,"author_company":49,"data_vis_image":711,"featured_image":715,"seo_description":696,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":719,"formattedArticleDate":720},"36c3f88b-8857-442b-bb48-e082b250a9e9","2024-09-18 00:00",[560,563],{"slug":561,"name":562},"china","China",{"slug":564,"name":565},"data-visualisation","Data Visualisation",[567],{"slug":568,"name":569,"content":570},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":571,"image":572,"bio":574,"linkedin":575},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":573},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":577,"content":578},"doc",[579,586,591,596,601,608,617,622,637,642,655,660,665,670,681,686,691],{"type":580,"attrs":581,"content":582},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":585},"Chinese Tier 2 cell producers are increasingly focusing on energy storage systems (ESS) applications amid intense competition in the electric vehicle (EV) market.","text",{"type":580,"attrs":587,"content":588},{"textAlign":49},[589],{"text":590,"type":585},"Overcapacity and low prices are weighing on margins and forcing suppliers to find alternative routes to survive.",{"type":580,"attrs":592,"content":593},{"textAlign":49},[594],{"text":595,"type":585},"“Tier 2 companies like REPT and EVE Energy have shifted their focus to the ESS market to secure more orders and support planned production ramp ups,” said Aran Waid, a principal analyst at Benchmark.",{"type":580,"attrs":597,"content":598},{"textAlign":49},[599],{"text":600,"type":585},"For context, from 2020 to 2022, REPT’s EV battery sales increased almost five fold, while its ESS battery sales increased more than 30 fold.",{"type":602,"attrs":603,"content":605},"heading",{"level":604,"textAlign":49},4,[606],{"text":607,"type":585},"Chinese Tier 2 cell manufacturers shift focus to ESS",{"type":580,"attrs":609,"content":610},{"textAlign":49},[611],{"type":612,"attrs":613},"image",{"id":49,"alt":614,"src":615,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":616},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/def079746b/bm-chinese-tier-2-producers-focus-on-ess.png",{},{"type":602,"attrs":618,"content":619},{"level":604,"textAlign":49},[620],{"text":621,"type":585},"Battery competition in China",{"type":580,"attrs":623,"content":624},{"textAlign":49},[625,627,635],{"text":626,"type":585},"The Chinese battery market is forecast to be in surplus by close to 670 GWh in 2024, according to Benchmark’s ",{"text":628,"type":585,"marks":629},"Lithium ion Battery Forecast",[630],{"type":631,"attrs":632},"link",{"href":633,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":634},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/lithium-ion-batteries/data-reports/forecast/","url",{"text":636,"type":585},". As a result, manufacturers are subject to intense competition.",{"type":580,"attrs":638,"content":639},{"textAlign":49},[640],{"text":641,"type":585},"The price of a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cell has fallen to around $60 per kilowatt hour (kWh), a 30% decline since the same time last year.",{"type":580,"attrs":643,"content":644},{"textAlign":49},[645,647,653],{"text":646,"type":585},"These market conditions have led to the cancellation or postponement of gigafactory investment in China. Benchmark’s ",{"text":648,"type":585,"marks":649},"Gigafactory Assessment",[650],{"type":631,"attrs":651},{"href":652,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":634},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/lithium-ion-batteries/capacity-database/gigafactory/",{"text":654,"type":585}," has removed 24 Chinese projects due to cancellation or a lack of updates since their announcement in 2024. ",{"type":580,"attrs":656,"content":657},{"textAlign":49},[658],{"text":659,"type":585},"In its infancy, the ESS market was supplied by surplus cells that did not find an offtake partner in the EV market. However in the current market, ESS cells are purpose built.",{"type":580,"attrs":661,"content":662},{"textAlign":49},[663],{"text":664,"type":585},"“To compete in the market, battery manufacturers have to develop specific solutions for different applications and differentiate their products. For instance, LFP cells for EVs usually have around a 5,000 cycle life. However, for ESS applications, the minimum we see is 8,000 cycles, with most products having a 10,000 cycle life at least,” said Yu (Frank) Du, China research lead at Rho Motion.",{"type":602,"attrs":666,"content":667},{"level":604,"textAlign":49},[668],{"text":669,"type":585},"Global demand dynamics will affect Tier 2 manufacturers’ strategy",{"type":580,"attrs":671,"content":672},{"textAlign":49},[673,675,679],{"text":674,"type":585},"ESS demand remains strong, growing 50% year-on-year in 2024, according to Benchmark’s ",{"text":628,"type":585,"marks":676},[677],{"type":631,"attrs":678},{"href":633,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":634},{"text":680,"type":585},". This trend is forecast to continue, with demand for ESS more than doubling by 2030 and increasing four-fold by the end of the forecast period in 2040.",{"type":580,"attrs":682,"content":683},{"textAlign":49},[684],{"text":685,"type":585},"As EV demand improves, Tier 2 producers will likely try to secure more orders from this market, though competition from Tier 1 producers will make this difficult.",{"type":580,"attrs":687,"content":688},{"textAlign":49},[689],{"text":690,"type":585},"“The EV market is increasingly cost focused so it will depend on how cost competitive Tier 2 producers are compared to the competition,” said Waid.",{"type":580,"attrs":692,"content":693},{"textAlign":49},[694],{"text":695,"type":585},"How committed a producer is to ESS cells is also a significant factor as more technological advancements in developing these cells will make a switch back to EV production more difficult. However, most Tier 2 manufacturers are invested in both EV and ESS markets.","Chinese Tier 2 cell producers are increasingly focusing on energy storage systems (ESS) applications amid intense competition in the electric vehicle (EV) market. Overcapacity and low prices are weighing on margins and forcing suppliers to find alternative routes to survive. “Tier 2 companies like REPT and EVE Energy have shifted their focus to the ESS […]",[698],{"slug":568,"name":569,"content":699},{"job_title":571,"image":700,"bio":574,"linkedin":575},{"filename":573},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"36c3f88b-8857-442b-bb48-e082b250a9e9\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[704,707],{"slug":705,"name":706},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":708,"name":709},"ess","ESS","private",{"id":49,"alt":712,"name":614,"focus":614,"title":712,"source":614,"filename":615,"copyright":614,"fieldtype":713,"meta_data":714,"is_external_url":51},"Stacked column chart showing share of Chinese ESS production by Tier. Tier 2 share increases from 24% in 2021 to 47% in 2024","asset",{"alt":712,"title":712,"source":614,"copyright":614},{"id":49,"alt":716,"name":614,"focus":614,"title":716,"source":614,"filename":717,"copyright":614,"fieldtype":713,"meta_data":718,"is_external_url":51},"Energy storage power station","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/8dc774b86d/bm-chinese-tier-2-producers-ess-focus.jpg",{"alt":716,"title":716,"source":614,"copyright":614},"Sep 18, 2024","18th September 2024",[],[],1792773897150]