Recently, in the overseas market, lithium battery giants Samsung SDI and LG energy asked the downstream Hyundai electric, Xiaoxing and other Korean energy storage system companies to realize the price linkage mechanism, but it was boycotted by the latter, which raised concerns about the possible collapse of the energy storage ecosystem.
In the Chinese market, major battery manufacturers Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) , Byd Company Limited(002594) , Eve Energy Co.Ltd(300014) also face the situation that customers of downstream energy storage system do not accept the price rise and the price rise of raw materials is not conducted smoothly.
At present, the gross profit of the whole energy storage industry is squeezed. Nevertheless, this industry still has great market growth potential. The reporter learned from the end of last year that the layout of Shanghai energy reserve is still the most promising in the industry.
downstream difficult price increase
electric energy storage and domestic energy storage price transmission differentiation
With the soaring price of raw materials such as lithium carbonate in the upstream, the price is transmitted to the middle and downstream links layer by layer. Up to now, most mainstream car companies and models of new energy vehicles in China have realized price increases, and power battery manufacturers have dynamically adjusted the prices of some battery products, partially offsetting the pressure caused by the doubling of raw material costs. However, the price transmission of energy storage batteries in the middle and lower reaches of the industrial chain is more difficult.
“The price rise of energy storage must be seen separately, whether it is family energy storage or electric energy storage.” Long Zhiqiang, an analyst of the positive pole and energy storage market of xinlune information, told reporters that the price of household energy storage may rise in the near future, but the rise is not complete, and some costs are borne by the cell factory itself.
Large enterprise customers in terms of electric energy storage and 5g base stations are more difficult to conduct. Compared with household energy storage capacity, it is generally 13 to 15 kwh, and the price increase is two or three hundred yuan, which is acceptable to customers. The minimum energy storage capacity of electric power is more than 1 megawatt hour, which is generally 50 megawatt hour in China. The price increase is often tens of millions, which has a great impact, and the acceptance of customers to the price increase has decreased significantly.
“In short, the gross profit of energy storage is not as high as before.” Long Zhiqiang said.
Taking Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) as an example, the gross profit margin of power battery system in 2021 was 22%, down 4.56 percentage points year-on-year; The gross profit margin of energy storage system was 28.52%, down 7.51 percentage points year-on-year.
Data source: ICC Xinlun information
According to the latest statistics of ICC Xinlun information, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) and Byd Company Limited(002594) rank first and third respectively in the global energy storage battery market.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) is mainly engaged in electric energy storage, and its customers include national energy group, China Energy Engineering Corporation Limited(601868) , China Huadian, Three Gorges group, Sungrow Power Supply Co.Ltd(300274) and other enterprises Byd Company Limited(002594) of the energy storage business, about 80% is also electric energy storage.
Byd Company Limited(002594) insiders also told reporters that in terms of the situation during the year, the acceptance of price increases by enterprise customers is worse than that of consumer customers, but the energy storage business still accounts for a very small proportion of Byd Company Limited(002594) ‘s revenue.
Pylon Technologies Co.Ltd(688063) , which focuses on household and other small energy storage products, has realized cost transmission and profitability restoration since this year Pylon Technologies Co.Ltd(688063) relevant financial reports show that the operating cost in the first quarter of 2022 is basically the same as that in the fourth quarter of 2021 According to the analysis of Southwest Securities Co.Ltd(600369) Research Report, the operating revenue of the company increased by about 6% month on month in the first quarter of this year, which was higher than the operating cost. It can be inferred that the cost side pressure of the company is gradually transmitting to the downstream.
energy storage explosion
enterprises are optimistic about the trillion market
Although the gross profit is not as “fat” as before, the energy storage investment of battery enterprises is increasing.
Eve Energy Co.Ltd(300014) which ranks fifth in the global energy storage market has signed energy storage investment projects twice in the past month. The latest announcement released by the company on May 17 said that the company plans to sign an investment agreement with the Management Committee of Yuxi high tech Zone in Yunnan Province on matters related to the company’s investment and construction of lithium battery production projects in the zone. The project plans to invest 3 billion yuan to build a 10gwh power energy storage battery project.
On April 27, Eve Energy Co.Ltd(300014) and Chengdu Economic Development Zone signed the strategic cooperation framework agreement on Eve Energy Co.Ltd(300014) 50 GWH power storage battery project, and the two sides will cooperate in power battery production and technology research and development. The total investment of the project is 20 billion yuan. The two phases include 20 GWH and 30 GWH power energy storage battery production bases, as well as phase I and phase II of the Research Institute.
On April 21, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) company announced that it plans to invest in the construction of Xiamen times new energy battery industry base project in Xiamen, Fujian Province, and build the production line of power battery system and energy storage system, with a total investment of no more than 13 billion yuan. In 2021, the revenue of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) energy storage system reached 13.62 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 601.01%. The growth rate far exceeded the overall revenue growth and increased to 10.45% of the total revenue.
Since this year, listed companies that have invested billions in energy storage also include Tianneng Battery Group Co.Ltd(688819) and Pylon Technologies Co.Ltd(688063) .
Long Zhiqiang said that the reason why energy storage ushered in the upsurge of investment expansion is that compared with the automotive power battery market, the current total amount of energy storage is still relatively small, and there is a broad market space in the future. In the short term, affected by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the electricity price in Europe has risen, and the demand for overseas household energy storage has erupted.
China Securities Co.Ltd(601066) according to the latest research report, with the increase of the proportion of global new energy power generation and the requirements of new energy for grid flexibility, energy storage has become the fourth indispensable element of the new power system. In March this year, the national development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued the implementation plan for the development of new energy storage in the 14th five year plan. The goal of the plan is that by 2025, the new energy storage will enter the stage of large-scale development from the initial stage of commercialization and have the conditions for large-scale commercial application. By 2030, new energy storage will be fully market-oriented. Industry insiders believe that the energy storage market may usher in a new trillion market investment opportunity.
