Energy Storage Industry Risks: Is Rapid Growth Sacrificing Quality?

The energy storage industry is booming — but is speed coming at the cost of quality?Behind the rapid growth lie hidden risks: safety incidents, price wars, false claims, and technological homogenization. It’s time for the industry to take a step back and rethink its path forward.

At the 2025 World Energy Storage Conference held on September 17, 2025, Dr. Robin Zeng, founder and chairman of CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd.), stated in his keynote speech that the global energy storage industry is at a critical stage of transformation. While acknowledging the tremendous achievements made, he emphasized that the industry must remain clear-headed about the deep challenges ahead in order to achieve truly high-quality and sustainable development.

As a key enabler of the global energy revolution, the energy storage sector has witnessed rapid growth in recent years. Yet behind this prosperity, a series of underlying issues have gradually come to light.

1. Safety Remains the Primary Challenge

According to incomplete statistics, as of May this year, 167 major energy storage safety incidents have occurred worldwide. With the increasing use of storage systems for grid peak shaving and frequency regulation, ensuring safe operation has become a greater challenge than ever before. Building a more robust safety defense system is now a crucial task that the entire industry must confront.

2. Malignant Price Competition — A “Toxic Tumor” in the Industry

Over the past three years, the price of energy storage systems has dropped by nearly 80%. In a recent large-scale tender, the winning bid price even fell below 0.4 RMB/Wh, far below a healthy cost level. This short-sighted price war erodes the foundations of the industry, forcing companies to cut corners in materials, manufacturing, and safety protection. It weakens profitability and R&D investment, and ultimately harms the entire sector’s competitiveness and reputation.

3. False Specifications and Exaggerated Promotion Damage Industry Integrity

Some companies neglect true technological innovation but manipulate product data and specifications instead. In reality, many deployed energy storage systems deliver far lower cycle life and performance than promised, leading to diminished investment returns and loss of customer confidence. This long-standing issue calls for serious reflection across the industry.

4. Technological Homogenization Restricts Innovation Vitality

Under capital pressure, many companies choose to imitate rather than innovate. This has resulted in low product differentiation and weak core technology accumulation, which may undermine the global competitiveness of China’s energy storage industry in the long run.

5. Blind Expansion Brings Potential Social Risks

Currently, more than 300,000 energy storage companies are registered in China. As market competition intensifies, large-scale reshuffling is inevitable. Once some players exit, their completed projects may turn into “orphan stations” without proper maintenance — a potential burden on society and the state.

Dr. Zeng called on all industry peers, policymakers, and stakeholders to work together in building a healthy and orderly development environment, emphasizing that:

• Safety must always come first, with strict quality adherence.
• The industry should move away from short-term price wars toward full-lifecycle value creation.
• Original innovation should be encouraged to break through homogenization.
• Industry standards and regulations must be strengthened to guide the transition from high-speed to high-quality growth.

In a market surging at full speed, this speech offers the industry a moment to pause and reflect — pointing the way toward a sustainable and high-quality future.

Hoyinno’s Perspective

Facing the same industry realities, Hoyinno remains firmly committed to its core values: Safety, Quality, Innovation, and Responsibility.

We refuse to compromise on quality for short-term price advantages, and every system we deliver is designed, tested, and validated to meet real-world performance standards.

Through rigorous design, reliable data, and continuous R&D investment, Hoyinno provides energy storage solutions that are safe, sustainable, and trustworthy.

We believe that only by balancing stability and innovation can the energy storage industry achieve genuine high-quality growth. Hoyinno will continue to advance with industry partners worldwide — driving the sector toward a future that is more reliable, efficient, and sustainable.