The battery era is here — and China is supplying it
Canary Media
Canary Media examines how batteries have moved to the center of the global energy system, with more than 1.5 terawatt-hours placed into service last year, about ten times the total in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency. This growth has been made possible largely by China, whose manufacturing scale has driven lithium-ion battery costs down by 93 percent since 2010 and 36 percent in just the past five years. Most batteries are deployed within China and most power electric vehicles, but grid storage is expanding especially fast, with annual deployments growing nearly nineteenfold between 2020 and 2025 and forecast to double again by the end of the decade. China's central role in making the batteries that increasingly power the world's cars and grids has made several governments uneasy: the US used the Inflation Reduction Act to spur domestic manufacturing, and the European Union aims to meet 90 percent of its battery needs domestically by 2030, though it is not on track. The article concludes that competing on price remains difficult given China's economies of scale, accumulated expertise and dominance in refining battery minerals, so global battery adoption and Chinese supply are both likely to keep growing... Click below to read more
