In 2025, the energy storage industry is undergoing a seismic transformation. Following the launch of the “Document No. 136,” which opened the market for full electricity volume from renewable energy sources and eliminated mandatory energy storage regulations, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued opinions on improving the price governance mechanism on April 2. The document emphasizes the need to enhance energy price policies that promote a green and low-carbon transition, as well as establish a pricing mechanism for regulatory resources like natural gas power generation and energy storage to better support the construction of a new power system.
This new policy, coming after Document No. 136, acts as a significant catalyst to propel energy storage into a trading era. It indicates that energy storage will transition into a state of high-frequency utilization, moving away from being mere “decorations” that are built but not used. International examples show that the core of high-frequency utilization lies in ensuring project profitability and reconstructing the energy storage ecosystem.
Over the past decade, China’s energy supply and demand landscape has changed significantly from a relatively loose situation to a tight balance. The structure of power generation has also shifted considerably, with the proportion of thermal power installations decreasing from about 66% in 2015 to approximately 43% in 2024. The total installed capacity of renewable energy is expected to soon match that of thermal power.
As industry leaders focus on a competition for “larger and more efficient” capacities, recent annual reports from companies like CATL, Huawei, and BYD suggest that while these leaders are expanding the energy storage market, they are also brewing a fundamental shift centered around technological reconstruction. This could lead to a transformation in energy storage applications and a revolution in business models.
In 2024, CATL’s energy storage battery revenue reached 57.29 billion yuan, accounting for 15.8% of its total revenue. Although BYD did not disclose its energy storage performance separately, it still reported substantial figures. The company’s revenue from automobiles and related products (transportation equipment and electrical manufacturing) was approximately 617.38 billion yuan, making up 79.45% of total revenue, with photovoltaic and energy storage included in this category. Following CATL and BYD, Huawei also demonstrated solid performance in the energy storage field, achieving global sales revenue of 862.1 billion yuan in 2024. The evolution of energy storage, aside from increasing cell and system capacities, is expected to diversify significantly.
From a technological perspective, the energy storage sector is shifting focus from “how much electricity to store” to “how to use electricity more intelligently.” In terms of application scenarios and business models, energy storage is poised for a multi-faceted evolution.
Annual reports from CATL, BYD, and Huawei reveal a common theme: a sustained commitment to expanding energy storage operations. CATL suggests that in the next 3-5 years, the growth rate of the energy storage market will surpass that of power batteries, approaching a range of 25%-30%. Beyond energy cells, CATL is also ambitious in system integration. The company has launched the world’s first energy storage system with zero degradation in power and capacity over five years, boasting a single unit energy capacity of 6.25MWh, alongside the UniC series aimed at commercial and industrial storage scenarios.
BYD is developing a new generation of energy storage systems characterized by ultra-high capacity density, safety, longevity, and low cost, aiming for a leading global market share. Leveraging blade battery and CTS patented technologies, the capacity density of BYD’s systems has improved by 18% compared to the previous generation, with a single unit capacity reaching 6.432MWh. The new generation of intelligent battery management systems allows for one-click startup without debugging, fault diagnosis, and intelligent temperature control.
Huawei’s core business in photovoltaic inverters has seen a shift, as the company’s 2024 report focused more on its “network-type energy storage” solutions, reflecting a strategic transition from photovoltaic to energy storage. The ambitions of CATL, BYD, and Huawei in the energy storage domain are evident, indicating a competitive landscape among major players.
From a technological standpoint, lithium battery storage continues to make breakthroughs in long-duration and safety aspects, while application scenarios and business models are undergoing significant changes. The National Development and Reform Commission has identified long-duration storage as a “key supporting technology” in its action plan for building a new power system from 2024 to 2027, and plans to provide revenue guarantees through a capacity pricing mechanism. It is anticipated that by 2025, the proportion of tenders for storage projects lasting over four hours will increase significantly.
The intense competition in long-duration storage technology is pushing lithium batteries to extend their boundaries. In March of this year, Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners announced that its subsidiary, Private Energy Partners, is collaborating with CATL to develop an 8-hour long-duration energy storage system, EnerQB. This system is claimed to be the world’s first true 8-hour battery storage system, with plans to deploy over 3GW of total capacity across multiple sites in Australia. These installations will serve existing partners as well as new commercial and industrial customers. It is reported that the introduction of this product will enhance energy density by 80% through innovative underlying architecture, promoting the consumption of renewable energy and the upgrading of the power grid into a new era.
EnerQB, with its native design, achieves a 25% reduction in levelized cost compared to traditional lithium long-duration systems while being compatible with Quinbrook’s Quintrace platform for real-time optimization of grid carbon intensity and revenue. The launch of CATL’s EnerQB not only redefines the technical boundaries of lithium battery storage but also reshapes the underlying logic of global energy transition.
Safety remains a paramount concern. The explosion incident at the Moss Landing energy storage plant in California in March 2025 prompted global reflection on how to prevent disasters when single-site capacities exceed GWh levels. This incident resulted in direct economic losses exceeding $1 billion and exposed fatal flaws in traditional liquid lithium batteries. In response, companies like Sungrow, BYD, Huawei, Trina, and Ruipu Lan Jun are reshaping industry safety standards through real machine burning tests to raise safety entry thresholds. For instance, Sungrow invested 30 million yuan to conduct open-environment burning tests on its 20MWh PowerTitan 2.0 system, ensuring no spread occurred under extreme conditions.
In parallel, battery manufacturers like CATL and BYD are increasing their investment in solid-state batteries, hoping to accelerate the development of safer battery technologies. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s action plan for high-quality development in the new energy storage manufacturing industry (2024-2027) lists solid-state batteries as a priority breakthrough direction, with regions such as Beijing and Shanghai offering 30% investment subsidies for demonstration projects. In the capital markets, funding for solid-state battery technology is projected to exceed 20 billion yuan in 2024, with CATL and BYD exploring “lithium-sodium hybrid” transitional technologies.
Huawei Digital Energy’s report highlights its development of an intelligent string-type network energy storage solution to enhance grid stability. As the proportion of renewable energy installations exceeds 40%, challenges such as the lack of grid inertia and voltage fluctuations intensify. In this context, network-type energy storage transitions from being a “cutting-edge technology” to a “strategic necessity.” Leading companies like Sungrow, Huawei, XJ Electric, and Nari Technology are announcing technical breakthroughs. The essence of network-type energy storage lies in simulating synchronous generator characteristics through power electronic devices to achieve voltage source control.
As Huawei’s multi-station self-synchronization amplitude-frequency modulation technology decreases reactive response time to the millisecond level, it supports stable operation of gigawatt-level photovoltaic and storage microgrids. Sungrow’s PowerTitan 2.0 system, through a full-link simulation platform, has validated its black start capability at altitudes of 4,500 meters and temperatures as low as -40°C.
The National Energy Administration’s “Action Plan for High-Quality Development of New Energy Storage” identifies network technology as a key focus area, with regions like Beijing and Guangdong providing 30% investment subsidies for demonstration projects. As network-type energy storage shifts from being optional to essential, its significance transcends technical aspects, marking a paradigm shift in power systems from “source-following-load” to “source-grid-load-storage collaboration.” This will lead to scenario-based transformations, escalating from grid-level integration to “cell-level” energy networks. According to GGII’s predictions, global installations of network-type energy storage will exceed 200GW by 2030, with China’s market penetration surpassing 40%.
In the era of AI, the energy storage value chain is also witnessing profound changes. AI represents a wave that no company can afford to miss. Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou revealed that the company is seizing opportunities through its “Tianshui Plan,” “Diyu Plan,” and “Pacific Plan,” aiming for long-term success in the computational power era. The “Diyu Plan” specifically targets the flow sources of data centers, industrial parks, and homes. The explosive demand for AI computational power is driving significant increases in energy consumption in data centers, prompting Huawei to propose a “computational power-energy collaboration” model to address the energy supply challenges of data centers.
The annual report emphasizes that energy consumption in data centers accounts for over 80% of the ICT industry, and Huawei aims to reduce energy consumption and enhance efficiency through minimal architecture and high-density deployment. BYD continues to invest heavily in research and development in the AI data center sector, forming a comprehensive product layout that includes AI servers, liquid cooling systems, power management, and high-speed communications, thus opening broad growth avenues for the company.
Relying on its strong technological platform advantage, BYD has comprehensively laid out multiple core components and systems for AI robotics. CATL also indicated a significant demand for data centers and energy storage in Australia and the Middle East, where high energy consumption and the need for stable power create high-quality incremental market opportunities. Current trends show that the demand for data center energy storage is rapidly increasing, with projects like the Alian project reaching a scale of 19GWh, marking just the beginning.
AI technology enables real-time monitoring of battery health (SOH), prediction of thermal runaway risks, and optimization of operations and maintenance. For example, Sungrow’s PowerTitan 2.0 utilizes full liquid cooling and incorporates AI bionic thermal balance technology, achieving rapid cooling, micro-cooling, and heating control modes to ensure that the cell temperature remains stable around 25°C, enhancing discharge capacity by 8%.
Furthermore, leveraging battery swapping models, energy storage, and the integration of renewable energy, CATL is utilizing its “chocolate battery swap” ecosystem to create a more efficient “photovoltaic-storage-charging integrated” energy network. Enhancing B2G technology is a significant step for CATL as it transitions from a pure battery manufacturer to an energy service provider, reflecting its broader goal of achieving a “zero-carbon grid,” capable of powering large data centers or even an entire city. Zeng Yuqun estimates that the income from developing and managing “zero-carbon grid” operations could be ten times greater than supplying batteries for electric vehicles. Based on CATL’s projected revenue of 253 billion yuan for its power battery systems in 2024, this business may exceed 2.5 trillion yuan in scale.
CATL envisions its “zero-carbon grid” not merely as a storage system, but as an integrated energy solution that encompasses solar energy, wind energy, storage, and electric vehicle technologies feeding into the grid. Similarly, Huawei’s annual report frequently references its “photovoltaic-storage-charging integration” strategy, consolidating photovoltaic, storage, and charging facilities to build a closed-loop energy ecosystem. For example, its smart photovoltaic solution achieved a shipment volume of 176GW in 2024, with storage shipments increasing by 66%, and it promotes high-quality industry development through initiatives like “Spark Fire.” In the next three years, Huawei plans to deepen its relations with the grid, automotive companies, and data center clients through its “Tianshui Plan” and “Diyu Plan,” establishing a trinity ecological system of “energy storage + computational power + transportation.”
On March 17, BYD launched its megawatt flash charging technology, allowing for a peak charging power of 1 megawatt (1000 kW) that can replenish a range of 400 kilometers in just five minutes. BYD has developed a “1 host + 1 storage cabinet” charging and storage system, with a storage cabinet capacity of 225kWh and a maximum output power of 800kW. When the storage cabinet collaborates with the grid, the total output power can reach 1360kW. This evolution in charging and storage modes represents a new development trend for 2025.
As Trina Solar’s chairman Gao Jifan noted, achieving carbon neutrality hinges on three key factors: first, continuously improving solar energy conversion efficiency and reducing costs through ongoing technological innovation; second, vigorously developing energy storage systems, including new storage technologies, products, and applications such as lithium and sodium battery storage; and third, promoting high-voltage transmission, particularly in direct current distribution technologies and systems, to build a new zero-carbon low-carbon energy system centered around renewable energy. Most importantly, there must be a combination of carbon-free electric power energy and the electrification of end-use energy, such as constructing zero-carbon buildings, zero-carbon factories, zero-carbon mining, and zero-carbon transportation.
From discussions on energy storage safety to AI-driven operational revolutions and the deep coupling of long-duration storage with new power systems, 2025 may mark a historic turning point for energy storage, shifting from “scale expansion” to “value creation.” This technological transformation could set the stage for the energy storage industry over the next decade.
