Lithium-ion battery demand surpassed one terawatt hour for the first time in 2024, after narrowly missing this achievement in 2023. The industry has grown significantly over the last few years on the back of rising EV sales and BESS deployments. However, when unpacking the data it is clear that the industry remains dominated by a select group of players. This considered, over 2024 a number of smaller players showed strong growth in deployments.

The year of the terawatt hour

Global battery production capacity surpassed one terawatt hour in 2023, with China accounting for over 80% of this production capacity. However, 2024 was the first year that battery demand surpassed one terawatt hour. Iola Hughes, Head of Research at Rho Motion commented “Lithium-ion battery demand across all end use markets increased 27% compared to 2023.”

She continued “EV demand continues to make up the majority of lithium-ion battery demand, but it is worth noting the impressive growth of the BESS market in recent years has seen its market share double from 7% in 2020 to 15% in 2024.”

Who were the top players?

Rho Motion’s ranking for the top 15 cell manufacturers shows, that as in previous years, CATL, BYD and LG Energy Solution remained the top three suppliers in 2024. This group accounting for just over 60% of the total market. CALB, whose deployments were up over 60% y-o- y, came in at fourth while Samsung SDI moved up a place from 2023 to fifth in 2024.

Both Panasonic and SK On fell in the rankings. Panasonic’s deployments increased by 8% y-o-y, primarily from EV deployments, while SK On’s total deployments fell 4% y-o-y, these figures are largely down to respective EV market demand, as well as the fact that SK On has not expanded at scale into the BESS market.

Who were the strongest growers in the EV battery space?

The global EV market grew over 25% in 2024, this in turn allowed some cell manufacturers to ramp up production in the segment, however much of this growth was centred in China. Vehicle maker, Geely, and cell maker, Yaoning Technology, scaled this year to deploy a combined 13GWh of cells in EVs, up from nothing in 2023. Other players such as Zenergy and Sunwoda also showed notable growth in EV cells demand, both almost doubling total deployments.

Key Read: The EV market in flux, smaller producers struggle in 2024, but some see positive performance

BYD’s EV battery deployments were up 42%, aligning with the same growth of its EV sales. However, Tesla’s EV cell deployments increased 68%, despite a 1% drop in sales over the year. This was largely down to the ramping of production at Tesla’s Austin Texas gigafactory, increasing its domestic supply of cells for its Cyber Trucks and Model Ys.

Who were the top BESS cell makers?

As the energy storage industry has expanded, more players have begun specialising in BESS cells and products. In 2024, CATL remained the market leader, followed by EVE Energy and Hithium. While EVE Energy also produces cells for EVs, it significantly grew its BESS business in 2024. Meanwhile, Hithium, which focuses solely on BESS, saw a y-o-y deployments increase of 138%.

Key Read: Global BESS deployments surpass expectations in 2024

Strongest growers in the BESS space

In 2023, BYD was the second-largest BESS player globally but lost its position in 2024 as other companies scaled more rapidly. Two standout performers were CALB and Cornex, now the world’s seventh and eighth largest BESS cell suppliers, respectively, after a strong year of growth.

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