

Energy
Tesla Energy, battery storage broke new ground in 2018, and 2019 will be even better
Visionaries like Elon Musk, who are aiming for a world powered by sustainable energy, would be proud of the industry’s progress in 2018. Over the course of the year, investments flowed into research, the prices of batteries declined, governments across the globe supported clean energy solutions, and electric vehicles such as the Tesla Model 3 led the charge in transitioning the transportation sector away from fossil fuels.
A study from Bloomberg New Energy Finance has noted that in 2018, global annual energy storage more than doubled, reaching 9 GWh, and it is currently on pace to rise another 78% this year. In August 2018, the cumulative sales of electric cars passed the 4 million mark as well, and NEF analysts expect the EV industry to surpass 5 million in sales in the first quarter of 2019. Even in the United States, where companies like Tesla are struggling to meet the demand for their residential energy products, deployments on a rated-power basis across the country rose 57% to an estimated 338 KW after three years of flat to negative growth.
At the core of all this growth are the advancements in battery technology. Producers of batteries have ramped their operations to meet increasing demand, from China’s BYD Co. Ltd. to South Korea’s LG Chem to Japan’s Panasonic Corp. and its US partner Tesla. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence notes that by 2028, the combined manufacturing capacity of these battery producers would likely reach at least 1,330 GWh. That’s about ten times greater than the entire’s industry’s total capacity entering 2018.
In an email to S&P Global Market Intelligence, Simon Moores, managing director of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, mentioned that the scale of recent battery projects signifies a change in the market. Moores also pointed out that while the emergence of electric cars is notable, the rise of energy storage has been impressive as well.
“When you see projects now being planned at over 1 GWh in scale, when only 18 months ago a 300-MWh installation was something to behold, you know you have entered a new era. It has been quite interesting to watch the battery makers’ dilemma of where to send the lithium-ion cells. Of course, they have contracts to honor with automotive producers, but the order inquiries from [energy storage] producers have been incredible,” Moores said.
One thing that is working in favor of renewables today is the falling prices of batteries and clean energy as a whole. Tom Buttgenbach, president and CEO of developer 8minutenergy Renewables LLC, described this in a statement to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
“I can beat a gas peaker anywhere in the country today with a solar-plus-storage power plant. Who in their right mind today would build a new gas peaker? We are a factor of two cheaper,” he said.
Buttgenbach’s statements echo the words of Tesla Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel, who noted last year that the age of fossil fuel powered peaker plants is at an end. Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle, Straubel stated that batteries, even at their current state, are already starting to prove themselves as superior to conventional energy solutions.
“I think what we’ll see is we won’t build many new peaker plants, if any. Already what we’re seeing happening is the number of new ones being commissioned is drastically lower, and batteries are already outcompeting natural gas peaker plants,” the Tesla CTO said.
While the progress of batteries has been impressive, though, Logan Goldie-Scot, head of energy storage at Bloomberg NEF, has stated that the past year exhibited uneven growth among different regions across the globe. South Korea, for one, saw a rise in energy deployments, while territories like the United Kingdom took a step back. In the United States, extreme demand such as those faced by Tesla Energy for products like the Powerwall 2 also caused delays in installations. Yet, despite these, Goldie-Scot stated that 2018 was a turning point for energy storage nonetheless.
“Even though progress was uneven, there was a much greater consensus in 2018 over the importance of energy storage, even in the near term, in major markets. In 2017, there were still a lot of people talking about how energy storage was not necessarily a competitive solution and was going to be limited. I hear those conversations much less now. Energy storage is now becoming more integrated into resource plans,” she said.
Amidst this transition, companies such as Tesla are taking the battle to heart. Last November, for example, Tesla opened the doors of Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo, NY to select members of the media. During the media visit, Tesla noted that it is aiming to ramp operations in the site with more hires, and that the 1.2-million sq ft facility is already running 24/7, with employees alternating 12-hour shifts. Tesla’s Gigafactory 2 is expected to play a huge role in the company’s energy business, considering that it is the site where the Solar Roof tiles, the company’s flagship solar product, are being manufactured.
Energy
Tesla Energy is the world’s top global battery storage system provider again
Tesla Energy captured 15% of the battery storage segment’s global market share in 2024.

Tesla Energy held its top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year, capturing 15% of global market share in 2024, as per Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings.
Tesla Energy’s lead, however, is shrinking, as Chinese competitors like Sungrow are steadily increasing their global footprint, particularly in European markets.
Tesla Energy dominates in North America, but its lead is narrowing globally
Tesla Energy retained its leadership in the North American market with a commanding 39% share in 2024. Sungrow, though still ranked second in the region, saw its share drop from 17% to 10%. Powin took third place, even if the company itself filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, as noted in a Solar Power World report.
On the global stage, Tesla Energy’s lead over Sungrow shrank from four points in 2023 to just one in 2024, indicating intensifying competition. Chinese firm CRRC came in third worldwide with an 8% share.
Wood Mackenzie ranked vendors based on MWh shipments with recognized revenue in 2024. According to analyst Kevin Shang, “Competition among established BESS integrators remains incredibly intense. Seven of the top 10 vendors last year struggled to expand their market share, remaining either unchanged or declining.”

Chinese integrators surge in Europe, falter in U.S.
China’s influence on the BESS market continues to grow, with seven of the global top 10 BESS integrators now headquartered in the country. Chinese companies saw a 67% year-over-year increase in European market share, and four of the top 10 BESS vendors in Europe are now based in China. In contrast, Chinese companies’ market share in North America dropped more than 30%, from 23% to 16% amid Tesla Energy’s momentum and the Trump administration’s policies.
Wood Mackenzie noted that success in the global BESS space will hinge on companies’ ability to adapt to divergent regulations and geopolitical headwinds. “The global BESS integrator landscape is becoming increasingly complex, with regional trade policies and geopolitical tensions reshaping competitive dynamics,” Shang noted, pointing to Tesla’s maintained lead and the rapid ascent of Chinese rivals as signs of a shifting industry balance.
“While Tesla maintains its global leadership, the rapid rise of Chinese integrators in Europe and their dominance in emerging markets like the Middle East signals a fundamental shift in the industry. Success will increasingly depend on companies’ ability to navigate diverse regulatory environments, adapt to local market requirements, and maintain competitive cost structures across multiple regions,” the analyst added.
Energy
Tesla inks multi-billion-dollar deal with LG Energy Solution to avoid tariff pressure
Tesla has reportedly secured a sizable partnership with LGES for LFP cells, and there’s an extra positive out of it.

Tesla has reportedly inked a multi-billion-dollar deal with LG Energy Solution in an effort to avoid tariff pressure and domesticate more of its supply chain.
Reuters is reporting that Tesla and LGES, a South Korean battery supplier of the automaker, signed a $4.3 billion deal for energy storage system batteries. The cells are going to be manufactured by LGES at its U.S. factory located in Michigan, the report indicates. The batteries will be the lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, chemistry.
Tesla delivers 384,000 vehicles in Q2 2025, deploys 9.6 GWh in energy storage
It is a move Tesla is making to avoid buying cells and parts from overseas as the Trump White House continues to use tariffs to prioritize domestic manufacturing.
LGES announced earlier today that it had signed a $4.3 billion contract to supply LFP cells over three years to a company, but it did not identify the customer, nor did the company state whether the batteries would be used in automotive or energy storage applications.
The deal is advantageous for both companies. Tesla is going to alleviate its reliance on battery cells that are built out of the country, so it’s going to be able to take some financial pressure off itself.
For LGES, the company has reported that it has experienced slowed demand for its cells in terms of automotive applications. It planned to offset this demand lag with more projects involving the cells in energy storage projects. This has been helped by the need for these systems at data centers used for AI.
During the Q1 Earnings Call, Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja confirmed that the company’s energy division had been impacted by the need to source cells from China-based suppliers. He went on to say that the company would work on “securing additional supply chain from non-China-based suppliers.”
It seems as if Tesla has managed to secure some of this needed domestic supply chain.
Energy
Tesla Shanghai Megafactory produces 1,000th Megapack for export to Europe
The Shanghai Megafactory was able to hit this milestone less than six months after it started producing the Megapack.

Tesla Energy has announced a fresh milestone for its newest Megapack factory. As per the electric vehicle maker, the Shanghai Megafactory has successfully produced its 1,000th Megapack battery.
The facility was able to hit this milestone less than six months after it started producing the grid-scale battery system.
New Tesla Megapack Milestone
As per Tesla Asia in a post on its official accounts on social media platform X, the 1,000th Megapack unit that was produced at the Shanghai Megafactory would be exported to Europe. As noted in a CNEV Post report, Tesla’s energy products are currently deployed in over 65 countries and regions globally. This allows Tesla Energy to compete in energy markets that are both emerging and mature.
To commemorate the 1,000th Megapack produced at the Shanghai Megafactory, the Tesla China team posted with the grid-scale battery with celebratory balloons that spelled “Megapack 1000.” The milestone was celebrated by Tesla enthusiasts on social media, especially since the Shanghai Megafactory only started its operations earlier this year.
Quick Megafactory Ramp
The Shanghai Megafactory, similar to Tesla’s other key facilities in China, was constructed quickly. The facility started its construction on May 23, 2024, and it was hailed as Tesla’s first entry storage project outside the United States. Less than a year later, on February 11, 2025, the Shanghai Megafactory officially started producing Megapack batteries. And by March 21, 2025, Tesla China noted that it had shipped the first batch of Megapack batteries from the Shanghai plant to foreign markets.
While the Shanghai Megafactory is still not at the same level of output as Tesla’s Lathrop Megafactory, which produces about 10,000 Megapacks per year, its ramp seems to be quite steady and quick. It would then not be surprising if Tesla China announces the Shanghai Megafactory’s 2,000th Megapack milestone in the coming months.
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