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The ESS market is rapidly emerging as a new growth driver for the global battery industry. As growth in the electric vehicle market gradually stabilizes, demand for large-scale energy storage is accelerating, driven by renewable energy expansion, grid stabilization and the growth of data centers and AI infrastructure.

According to SNE Research, the global ESS battery market is projected to expand from approximately 353GWh in 2024 to 1,870GWh in 2035. China's ESS market is expected to grow from approximately 140GWh to 794GWh over the same period, establishing itself as a key source of global ESS demand.

Source: SNE Research <2026> Global ESS Market Outlook (to 2035)

Growth in China's ESS market extends beyond increasing solar and wind generation. While early demand was driven by ESS linked to renewable generation to smooth output fluctuations, applications are now rapidly diversifying into standalone and shared ESS, commercial and industrial (C&I) facilities, data centers and AI, charging infrastructure, and microgrids.

China's ESS policy is also evolving. Earlier policies focused on technology development, demonstration projects and the deployment of renewables-linked storage. The focus is now shifting toward frameworks that enable ESS to participate directly in electricity markets and ancillary services and generate revenue independently.

Against this backdrop, Chinese battery manufacturers are rapidly extending their LFP expertise and large production capacity from EV batteries into ESS. Competition in dedicated large-format ESS cells is intensifying as capacities rise from around 300Ah to 500–600Ah and above. The competitive focus is therefore expanding beyond cell manufacturing costs to greater system integration, smaller installation footprints and lower balance-of-system (BOS) costs.

Chinese manufacturers currently hold strong competitive positions in LFP material and cell technology, large cells dedicated to ESS, absolute cell prices and manufacturing costs, and production scale. Korean manufacturers, meanwhile, have opportunities to differentiate through safety and quality reliability, experience serving global customers, and local production and regulatory compliance in North America.

In North America in particular, tighter tariffs on Chinese non-EV lithium-ion batteries and stricter supply chain regulations are making production location and supply chain origin increasingly important alongside cell prices. Competition in the global ESS battery market is therefore likely to shift toward manufacturers that can combine large-cell technology, long-term safety, production scale, project execution, local manufacturing and supply chain compliance.

This report examines the growth drivers and market structure of China's ESS industry and provides an in-depth analysis of the technology, products, production capacity, market performance and projects of three leading Chinese ESS battery manufacturers: CATL, CALB and EVE. It compares the three companies using a consistent framework and explores their competitive positioning against Korean battery manufacturers, as well as future opportunities in the global ESS market.