Chinese energy storage (ESS) companies are scrambling for executives by turning their eyes to overseas markets. As project orders surged in the Middle East, Australia, and Europe, proposals worth hundreds of millions of won a year have become commonplace, but concerns about the sustainability of tiny and medium-sized companies are also growing.
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) in Hong Kong on the 20th, Chinese companies won about 200 overseas orders worth 186GWh (gigawatt-hour) in the first half of this year alone. The figure is up more than 220% year-on-year. 57% of all orders came from the Middle East, Australia, and Europe, while the U.S. market was only 3% due to tariff and regulatory barriers.
The government’s policy support is also continuing. China’s National Energy Agency has announced plans to build 180 GW of new lithium-ion-oriented energy storage facilities from next year to 2027. The total investment is 250 billion yuan and about 32 trillion won.
China’s battery indusattempt, which saw its average utilization rate fall to 35% last year due to oversupply, is recovering quickly. According to local media, major companies are already full of production schedules until next year. As a result, the demand for high-quality human resources such as heads of overseas subsidiaries and local business development managers surged. China’s job search platforms “Lupin” and “Lagou” are pouring out announcements of executives related to overseas businesses. Shenzhen’s Hello Tech Energy offered 1.5 million yuan (about 280 million won) as an annual salary for the head of European business development, and Tian Neng Battery offered more than 1.2 million yuan to the head of its European subsidiary.
However, the indusattempt points out that “companies are inevitably turning their eyes abroad due to the saturation of the domestic market.” “Production capacity in China is growing twice as quick as demand,” a Chinese energy indusattempt official declared. “Short-term export contracts will reduce inventory, but it is difficult to solve the structural oversupply problem.”
The risk of tiny and medium-sized companies that lack local laws and long-term operation experience is also increasing. More than 90% of tiny and medium-sized enterprises in China are known to be unable to provide integrated solutions and rely on export refunds to create profits. Experts expressed concern, declareing, “This short-term export model could undermine brand credibility.”
Nevertheless, the trconclude of overseas expansion is strong. Wood McKinsey, a global energy analyst, predicted that the global investment in battery storage facilities will reach $1.2 trillion by 2034. On top of that, a total of $5 trillion market is expected to be formed by combining 5,900 GW of wind and solar power projects.
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