2024 Global energy storage system (ESS) shipment ranking

InfoLink Consulting has released its 2024 global energy storage system (ESS) shipment ranking, based on its Energy Storage Supply Chain Database.

In 2024, global ESS shipments continued to grow, reaching 240 GWh, up over 60% YoY.
 

AC side: Leading manufacturers between China and the U.S. maintain strong positions amid competition.

The top five global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrators in the AC side for 2024 were Tesla, Sungrow, CRRC Zhuzhou Institute, Fluence, and HyperStrong.

Key trends for the AC Side in 2024:

• Intense competition
• Balanced landscape
• Wind and solar coupled with storage
• Industry consolidation

Intense competition:

• Tesla and Sungrow secured the top two global positions.
• Tesla led significantly in Q1 and Q2, but Sungrow caught up in the second half, surpassing Tesla’s quarterly shipments in Q3 and Q4.
• The rivalry might continue into 2025.

Balanced landscape:

• Among the top ten manufacturers, six were from China and four from the U.S., showing a balanced competitive landscape.
• Chinese firms dominated their domestic market while gradually expanding overseas.
• US firms leveraged the North American market as a stronghold and were actively expanding into Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific regions.
• In 2025, direct competition between Chinese and US firms might intensify.

Wind and solar coupled with storage:

• Wind and solar power giants have entered the energy storage market to establish a second growth pillar beyond wind and solar, aiming to enhance their ecosystems.
• This strategy showed promising results in 2024:
  Envision and Goldwind Carbon Neutral (both with wind power backgrounds) ranked 6th and 11th globally.
  Canadian Solar and Trina Storage (both with solar power backgrounds) made significant progress, ranking 9th and 13th globally.

Industry consolidation: In early 2024, China Electric Equipment Group merged three subsidiaries, Xuji Electric Storage, Pinggao Group, and SCETL, to form China Electrical Equipment Group Energy Storage. Through this merger, the company became one of the world's top energy storage suppliers. Among its subsidiaries, SCETL ranked 10th worldwide, Xuji Electric Storage ranked 12th, and their combined shipments rivaled leading global companies.
 

DC Side: Market leaders maintain stable positions as cell manufacturers drive expansion

In 2024, DC-side shipments showed a clear ranking. CATL and BYD remained the top two with a strong lead, followed by PotisEdge, Hithium, and RelyEZ. Notably, CATL, BYD, and the newcomer Hithium are top energy storage cell makers, increasingly expanding into system integration.

Top cell makers, with their technology and supply chain advantages, are strengthening their competitiveness in the full industry chain through vertical integration. CATL and BYD now cover all aspects, from lithium mining to cell production and system integration. They are expected to make major strides in the AC sector by 2025.

In 2024, the energy storage market was rapidly restructuring. Leading companies increased their market share through cost control and strong distribution, while smaller players struggled with price competition and limited funding, leading to industry consolidation. Meanwhile, global energy storage demand expanded across regions, driving companies to develop worldwide R&D, production, delivery, and operations.

Despite short-term geopolitical challenges, the energy transition will drive a 25% growth in energy storage shipments in 2025, with total shipments expected to exceed 300 GWh.