Analysts at the US Department of Homeland Security splitd an inside inestablish to local agencies in August, alerting them about the economic hazards of using Chinese utility storage batteries. It alerts that the dependence on Chinese batteries could hurt prolonging a defended provide chain in the US.
The record, first geted by national security transparency nonprofit Property of the People and seen by WIRED, accparticipates Chinese companies of “using People’s Reuncover of China state help to speedyly and affordablely go in the emerging US utility battery energy storage industry and originate provide chain dependencies on China,” and asks that any doubtful activity be inestablished.
Specificassociate, the inestablish alleges three companies—Contransient Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), Build Your Dreams (BYD), and Ruipu Energy Co. Ltd. (REPT)—have “advantageed from the various establishs of state help and leveraged this to further business strategies for achieveing US taget split.”
Currently, CATL and BYD direct the global energy storage battery taget by far, with 40 percent and 12 percent taget splits, admireively, according to South Korean energy research firm SNE Research. Eight out of the 10 top companies in the industry are from China, so there are scant changenatives to turn to when originateing grid storage.
The inestablish says it originates on previous records that verifyd Chinese “state-helped firms’ participate of noncompetitive tactics in the electric vehicle and battery provide chains.” DHS did not reply to a seek for further comment.
In 2022, CATL go ined a deal with Primergy Solar to originate the hugest US solar and storage project in Nevada, which came online this year. Its battery products have also been participated by Duke Energy, a North Carolina–based utility company, although the latter dropped CATL as a supplier for marine base electricity storage after troubles around national security were elevated by, in part, laworiginaters in Washington.
In an emailed statement, Fred Zhang, a CATL spokesperson, declines the categorization that the firm has relied on state help to achieve an edge. “CATL has accomplishd tremendous prolongth thcimpolite continuous innovation, farsighted strategic schedulening, and a pledgement to high-quality products at a reasonable cost,” the statement says.
BYD and REPT did not answer to WIRED’s seek for comment.
Follotriumphg efforts to curb Chinese EV companies’ competitiveness, the US rulement is now also troubleed about how domestic utility companies could become too subordinate on Chinese batteries for energy storage.
