South Korean media: China sweeps global energy storage battery market! On May 19, South Korean media "Global Economy" published an article stating that with the surging demand for renewable energy and data centers worldwide, the usage of batteries for grid storage is rapidly increasing. The competition between Chinese and South Korean companies, which have long dominated the electric vehicle battery production, has entered a new phase. According to data from battery consultancy Rho Motion, due to the rapid growth of the domestic market, Chinese batteries currently account for approximately 90% of the global energy storage system (ESS) capacity, holding more than 80% of the market share in the United States and over 75% in Europe. Rho Motion stated that the ESS market accounts for 5% of the entire battery market in 2020, growing to 20% last year. Global battery storage capacity increased by 52% from last year to this year. Additionally, Rho Motion predicts that global storage capacity will more than double from 340 GWh last year to 760 GWh by 2030. This is equivalent to the total of 760 million electric vehicle batteries. Iola Hughes, research director at Rho Motion, said, "Energy storage is often considered the least recognized area in the renewable energy industry. However, it is a key technology that can help countries avoid power outages in the coming years." ESS can help individual households, businesses, factories, and even national grids cope with irregular wind and solar power supplies. It also provides backup power for the grid, which is under increasing pressure from energy demands related to artificial intelligence (AI) hardware as well as electric vehicles and environmentally friendly technologies like heat pumps. The International Energy Agency (IEA) report predicts that global AI data center electricity demand will more than double in the next five years. In addition, AI-related demand is expected to account for nearly half of U.S. electricity demand growth from now until 2030. Companies like Tesla are also exploring opportunities in this market. Tesla is offsetting the sluggishness in electric vehicle sales by vigorously promoting home energy storage systems such as Powerwall and large-scale Megapacks. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in last year's earnings report, "ESS is developing like wildfire." Neil Beveridge, head of energy research at Bernstein, commented, "CATL is not only the largest company in the industry but also has the best technology and the highest factory utilization rate, giving it a clear advantage." South Korean battery manufacturers once led in this field, specializing in producing "high-nickel" batteries, which have higher energy density than LFP batteries favored by Chinese manufacturers. However, over the past decade, a series of fire accidents involving high-nickel batteries produced in South Korea, combined with the emergence of cheaper and better-performing Chinese alternatives, has led people to turn to LFP batteries. Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832550896934976/ Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author.