Calvin Xu

Global battery energy stationary storage (BESS) industry witnessed explosive growth in H1 2026, with both cell and system-level shipments nearly doubling compared to H1 2025. This has been driven by both booming global grid-scale and growing residential storage demand.  "Beyond the robust headline growth, the market is undergoing profound structural differentiation," said Benchmark BESS analyst Calvin Xu. "This includes diverging concentration trends between cell manufacturing and system integration, reshuffled enterprise rankings, and intensified mid-tier competition, marking a critical shift from scale expansion to stratified competition across the industrial chain." 

The US is reportedly considering a ban on Chinese-made inverters, citing security risk concerns similar to those outlined by the European Commission in May. Inverters are a key component of solar installations, converting the DC generated by photovoltaics into AC for the grid. As such devices interface directly with critical grid infrastructure, US officials have expressed concerns that connected Chinese hardware could pose a security threat.

China’s government has released its latest Five-Year Plan for New Energy System Development, setting out a range of new 2030 targets for its energy markets, including storage, generation and consumption. “The plan sets conservative and in-line new energy targets, serving more as a policy floor rather than a strict ceiling,” said Calvin Xu, a BESS analyst at Benchmark. “Supported by strong industry momentum, actual installations and deployments have consistently outperformed official goals during the previous five-year plan.” The plan is largely focused on “reinforcing market certainty” by providing “clear long-term development direction across renewables, energy storage, grid integration and power market reform,” Xu explained. Upcoming provincial targets and implementation rules are expected to provide more granular detail.

Global battery energy stationary storage (BESS) offtake agreements from Chinese OEMs in H1 2026 were over four times their H1 2025 level in GWh terms, Benchmark analysis shows, reaching 659GWh so far in 2026. Large offtake agreements of ≥10GWh capacity represented the largest proportion, with 474GWh capacity signed in H1 2026 through 25 agreements, up from 102GWh in H1 2025 from five agreements.

In 2025, over 600GWh of cells were shipped globally for battery energy stationary storage (BESS) applications, almost double that of 2024 as assessed by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a leading specialist in battery supply chain research. Combined, the top 10 BESS cell suppliers in 2025 accounted for 90% of cells shipped and all are headquartered in China.

On 27th April, Beijing HyperStrong Technology signed a strategic cooperation agreement with CATL in Ningde, Fujian, covering 60GWh of sodium ion batteries over three years for battery energy stationary storage (BESS) applications. The deal represents the world’s largest sodium ion battery agreement dedicated to energy storage to date. HyperStrong is one of the top five system integrators globally, having shipped 26GWh of systems in 2025 and with a cumulative total of BESS installations exceeding 50GWh.

The ongoing military conflict in the Middle East presents risks to the implementation and maintenance of energy storage projects across the region, including the largest projects, many of which involve Chinese contractors and suppliers.

On 24th February, Google formally signed an agreement with Xcel Energy to deploy a 30GWh / 300MW, 100-hour iron-air battery energy storage system (BESS) supplied by Form Energy in Pine Island, Minnesota.

China has introduced a national capacity‑based pricing mechanism for grid‑side independent energy storage, marking a structural shift in how storage assets are compensated within the power system.