Overall, overseas orders secured by Chinese companies exhibit three distinct characteristics. First, order sizes have expanded rapidly: early cross-border energy-storage projects typically involved just a few dozen MWh, whereas today they routinely reach the GWh level. Second, the range of order recipients has become more diversified, encompassing not only system integrators but also battery-cell manufacturers, inverter producers, and integrated energy-service firms. Third, order distribution has broadened geographically, with simultaneous growth across multiple markets, including Europe, Southeast Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa.

Some analysts believe that, on the one hand, China is set to adjust its value-added tax export rebate policy for batteries, prompting lithium-ion energy-storage companies to rush to capitalize on the window before the rebate rate begins to decline by accelerating production and expediting deliveries of overseas orders. On the other hand, adjustments to U.S. tariff policies have reduced tariffs on Chinese energy-storage batteries exported to the United States, further lowering export costs. Under the combined influence of these domestic and international policy factors, the battery industry has experienced a temporary surge in export-driven capacity expansion.

  Europe: The Most Important Overseas Energy Storage Market

Data show that in 2025, new battery energy storage capacity in Europe exceeded 30 GWh, up 39.7% year on year. Among them, Germany led the region with 3.6 GW/6.1 GWh of new installations, representing a 6.8% year-on-year increase in capacity. Italy added 4.9 GWh, down 38% from the previous year, while the UK added 4 GWh, up 90.5% year on year. In addition, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, and Spain all posted stronger-than-expected growth, placing them among the top six energy storage markets in Europe.

Looking at the regional distribution of overseas orders, the European market clearly accounts for the largest share. For example, Trina Storage has already secured over 6 GWh of contracted orders in Europe for 2026; Hibo Sichuang announced that it has won 4 GWh of orders in multiple European countries; and Sungrow Power continues to expand its collaborations on grid-side energy storage projects in Europe.

  The sustained boom in the European energy storage market is driven primarily by three core factors.

First, energy security has once again come to the fore. In recent years, the European energy market has experienced frequent volatility. Following the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the structure of Europe’s natural gas supply has undergone significant changes. Coupled with recent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, this has further driven up natural gas prices. Against this backdrop, energy storage systems are increasingly viewed as critical infrastructure for ensuring electricity system security. For Europe, energy storage is not merely a supporting component for new energy sources; it also serves as a “safety valve” for the power system.

Second, the share of renewable energy is rising rapidly. In 2025, Europe added approximately 65 GW of new photovoltaic capacity, reaching a record high. The European Union has explicitly committed to increasing the share of renewables to 42.5% by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. In this transition, the large-scale integration of wind and solar power has significantly heightened the volatility of the electricity system, making energy storage a critical technology for balancing grid stability with the effective absorption of new energy.

Third, energy-storage business models are gradually maturing. In Europe, revenue streams for energy-storage projects are relatively diversified, including spot-market arbitrage, frequency-regulation ancillary services, and capacity-market subsidies. The combination of these multiple revenue sources ensures stable returns for such projects. As a result, Europe has increasingly become one of the most active regions globally for energy-storage investment.

In addition, China Energy Storage Network has observed that, unlike in previous years, the European energy storage market underwent a notable shift in 2026: while residential storage continues to grow, utility-scale and commercial–industrial storage are expanding at a faster pace. For instance, following the Netherlands’ abolition of net-metering policies, PV system owners have begun large-scale deployment of energy storage; Poland is continuing to roll out its “My Power” subsidy program; and the UK has launched the “Warm Homes Scheme,” which promotes the integration of photovoltaics, energy storage, and heat pumps.

According to the EU’s previously announced target, installed energy storage capacity is expected to increase from 61 GWh in 2020 to between 500 and 780 GWh by 2030. This implies that the European energy storage market will need to achieve nearly tenfold growth over the next five years.

This means that if Chinese companies wish to continue expanding their market share in Europe, they must undertake more localized initiatives, such as establishing manufacturing facilities in Europe, partnering with local firms, and participating in project investments. Setting up factories in Europe enables “Made in Europe, sold in Europe,” which not only helps circumvent tariffs and trade frictions but also makes it easier to comply with EU product certification and environmental standards. In other words, Chinese firms competing in Europe are no longer vying solely on product price; they are also competing on the strength of their industrial ecosystem capabilities.

 

 

Currently, leading companies such as CATL, Haichen Energy Storage, EVE Energy, Sungrow Power Supply, Gotion High-Tech, and CALB have all established production or R&D facilities in Europe. According to the industry database of the CESA Energy Storage Applications Branch, as of the end of 2025, Chinese firms had planned, were under construction, or had commissioned a total of 60 lithium-ion battery energy storage production bases overseas (note: this tally excludes projects that have been suspended). Among these, 34 bases disclosed their planned investment amounts, totaling RMB 362.1 billion; and 34 bases disclosed their designed annual capacity, totaling 761 GWh.

 

Based on the distribution of planned overseas lithium-battery production capacity in China, Europe is the primary target region, accounting for more than 50% of the total, with major facilities located in Hungary, Spain, Germany, Finland, the United Kingdom, France, and other countries. The United States accounts for over 15% of the planned capacity, the Middle East and Africa for more than 15%, and Southeast Asia for over 5%. To date, Chinese companies have commissioned more than 70 GWh of overseas lithium-battery capacity. At the current pace of capacity expansion, a concentrated commissioning phase is expected between 2026 and 2028, and by 2030, the actual commissioned battery capacity of Chinese firms overseas is projected to exceed 300 GWh.

 

 

In recent years, Spain and Portugal have increasingly emerged as key hubs for Chinese companies seeking to establish a foothold in the energy-storage manufacturing sector. Supported by the EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act subsidy regime, Southern Europe has attracted substantial industrial investment thanks to its low energy costs and robust market demand. For instance, CATL has partnered with Stellantis to build a 50 GWh battery plant in Zaragoza, Spain; Haichen Energy Storage is investing €400 million in its Navarra facility; and EVE Energy is constructing a 15 GWh battery plant in Portugal. Together, these projects will form a major European production base for lithium-iron-phosphate-based energy-storage systems.

In Central and Eastern Europe, countries such as Hungary and Poland have emerged as large-scale manufacturing hubs for Chinese companies. Notably, Hungary is known as the “Battery Capital of Europe,” attracting substantial investment thanks to its low electricity prices, well-established industrial infrastructure, and EU regional subsidy policies. CATL’s 100 GWh gigafactory in Debrecen is one of the largest battery production facilities in Europe. Meanwhile, EVE Energy has also invested more than RMB 10 billion locally to build a battery plant, serving European automakers such as BMW and expanding into the energy-storage business.

Poland has thus become a crucial hub connecting Western and Eastern Europe. Sungrow Power Supply has established the first integrated solar-plus-storage manufacturing base in Europe there, with planned production capacities of 20 GW for inverters and 12.5 GWh for energy storage systems, serving the entire Central and Eastern European market.

In Europe, Germany and the United Kingdom are the core hubs for energy-storage technology standards and high-end markets. CATL’s plant in Thuringia, Germany, is its first battery production base on the continent, serving premium automakers such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Gotion High-Tech’s energy-storage production line in Göttingen has achieved localized manufacturing and has obtained certification from the German grid operator.

The United Kingdom is a key market for Chinese companies seeking to “go global in an eco-friendly manner.” For instance, Envision AESC has built a 15.8 GWh gigafactory for battery production in the UK, complete with an AI-powered energy-storage management system, and is participating in the 680 MW Carrington large-scale energy-storage project there.

Meanwhile, Trina Storage has partnered with European financial institutions to establish a €1 billion energy storage fund, with the goal of deploying approximately 12 GWh of energy storage systems.

China Energy Storage Network has observed that Chinese energy-storage companies are upgrading from “product export” to “industry export” by establishing localized manufacturing operations in Europe. As more such localization projects come online, the European energy-storage industry landscape will shift from its previous focus on scale expansion and price competition to a future model centered on technological capabilities, localized manufacturing, and ecosystem integration. In particular, in the segments of long-duration storage, grid-side storage, and energy-system integration, the ability to deliver localized services will become a key competitive barrier.

Conclusion

Looking back from the vantage point of 2026, the overseas expansion strategies of Chinese energy-storage companies are undergoing a fundamental transformation. Whether it is the surge in overseas orders or the wave of factory construction in Europe, both fundamentally point to the same trend: Chinese energy-storage firms are shifting from the past model of “product export” to a new phase characterized by “manufacturing export, capital investment abroad, and ecosystem development on the global stage.”

It is foreseeable that, over the next three to five years, the global energy-storage industry will enter a new round of market consolidation. During this period, the scope of global competition will also escalate rapidly, shifting from a mere contest over battery-cell prices and system costs to a comprehensive, systemic rivalry that encompasses localized manufacturing capabilities, global supply-chain coordination, project development and financing expertise, long-duration energy-storage and system-integration technologies, and localized operations-and-maintenance and customer-service capabilities.