South Korea and China in the battery market: A tale of two powerhouses

February 18, 2025
Revenue from energy storage
Revenue from energy storage and batteries (US$ billions)

This analysis takes a look at the sustainable revenue trend in one of the fastest-growing tiers of the Corporate Knights Sustainable Economy Taxonomy – energy storage and batteries. Driven mainly by the rising demand from electric vehicles and renewable energy storage requirements, sustainable revenue from this tier has grown 350% between 2019 and 2023.

Until 2022, South Korea had the dominating share in this market. Korean battery powerhouses like LG Energy Solutions, together with its parent company LG Chem, and Samsung SDI have dominated this tier, together accounting for 44% of total sustainable revenue in 2022. But China has now taken the lead, increasing its share from 41% in 2022 to 48% in 2023.

The shift in dominance can be largely attributed to the explosive growth of just one pureplay battery manufacturer: Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), which accounted for 76% of China’s total sustainable revenue in the energy storage and batteries market, up from 58% in 2019. In fact, CATL’s sustainable revenue has grown nearly 10-fold between 2019 and 2023, doubling its share in the global market from 17% to 37%. In 2022, for the first time, CATL became the leading battery and energy storage company, surpassing LG Energy Solutions, and has continued to retain its leadership position.

To learn more about interesting sustainable trends from the Corporate Knights Database, please fill out our contact form or reach out to research@corporateknights.com.

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