Energy storage batteries are in high demand with "chips hard to find," and capacity expansion is underway.

On September 6, at the Q3 2025 major project signing event in Yichang City, the Yichang municipal government signed a second-phase investment agreement with Chuneng New Energy for an 80GWh annual new energy battery production project.

**80GWh Chuneng New Energy Yichang Phase II Signing**

According to reports, the second phase of Chuneng New Energy's Yichang lithium battery industrial park project covers approximately 1,730 acres of planned land area, with an annual production capacity of about 80GWh. The project will research, develop and produce power batteries, energy storage batteries, and PACK modules among other new energy products. Once the project reaches full production, it is expected to create over 6,000 new jobs.

The signing ceremony was attended by Yichang Party Secretary Xiong Zhengyu, Deputy Party Secretary and Mayor Chen Honghui, People's Congress Standing Committee Director Zhou Zhengying, and CPPCC Chairman Wang Junchen. Chuneng New Energy Chairman Dai Deming spoke as a representative of the signing companies.

Chuneng New Energy's Yichang Phase I broke ground in August 2022 and was completed and put into production in August of the following year. Currently, the 65GWh capacity of Phase I has been steadily released. Additionally, Chuneng New Energy has established operations in Xiaogan and Wuhan, creating a "golden triangle" capacity layout with effective capacity exceeding 110GWh.

Notably, last month, Chuneng New Energy signed negative electrode material and electrolyte procurement cooperation agreements with Shanshan Technology and Capchem respectively, with the negative electrode material contract alone exceeding 10 billion yuan.

This capacity layout has laid the foundation for market expansion: since this year, Chuneng has successively won bids for large-scale central SOE procurement projects including PowerChina, China National Nuclear Corporation, CRRC Sifang Institute, China Energy Engineering Corporation, and China Electric Equipment Group. It has also secured energy storage project orders from the UK, Bulgaria, and Honduras. To date, new energy storage orders have exceeded 60GWh, with monthly energy storage shipments surpassing 8GWh.

**A New Wave of Capacity Expansion?**

Beyond Chuneng New Energy, on August 29, Gotion High-tech announced that given the continued growth in domestic and international power battery and energy storage markets, it plans to build new energy battery bases in Nanjing and Wuhu, Anhui, with total investment not exceeding 8 billion yuan.

CALB is accelerating its capacity layout, launching project construction this year in Changzhou, Jiangsu; Chengdu, Sichuan; Xiamen, Fujian; and overseas in Portugal, with expected new capacity exceeding 75GWh.

In July, EVE Energy announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary EVE ENERGY STORAGE MALAYSIA SDN.BHD. would invest no more than 8.654 billion yuan to expand energy storage production facilities in Kulim, Kedah, Malaysia.

CATL's lithium battery expansion projects in the first half of the year reached 9 locations across Fujian, Shandong, Henan, Chongqing and other regions, totaling 327GWh in scale. According to its H1 2025 financial report, CATL's battery system capacity reached 345GWh with output of 310GWh, achieving a capacity utilization rate of 89.86%.

HiTHIUM's effective annual capacity increased from 5.4GWh in 2022 to 49.7GWh in 2024. Its Chongqing factory took only 13 months from construction start to full production. Meanwhile, HiTHIUM's Texas facility in the United States has reached full production this year, with annual capacity to produce 10GWh of battery modules and systems.

REPT BATTERO's 8GWh battery factory in Indonesia has begun construction, with Phase I planning annual capacity of 8GWh, mainly producing power and energy storage batteries and systems, expected to begin production within 2025.

As of June 2025, among Sunwoda's 5 production bases under construction, 3 focus on energy storage cells and 2 target power batteries. Full production will double capacity.

Compared to 2020, the new wave of energy storage lithium battery expansion in 2025 is mainly concentrated among leading companies with technical capabilities and real demand, with more rational expansion primarily aimed at matching existing customers and market demand.

Behind the new wave of expansion by leading companies is the supply shortage of energy storage cells. CATL's capacity utilization rate approaches 90%, while EVE Energy's capacity utilization rate also exceeds 87%. HiTHIUM's Xiamen and Chongqing bases have been at full production since March, with orders scheduled through October. Sunwoda indicated in research notes that regarding capacity utilization, energy storage cell utilization rates approach 90%, nearing full production.

Due to expansion cycles typically requiring 6-12 months, short-term supply tensions are difficult to alleviate, leading to phenomena such as "orders booked through October" and "no stock available even at premium prices."