Strengthening Biz Alliances
Secondary battery makers are stepping up their efforts to tap into the fast-growing ESS market. The global ESS market is expected to grow rapidly as the US, the largest consumer has been showing a sign of deregulation. Therefore, Korean companies are focusing on increasing their competitiveness through business allances with foreign companies.
According to the battery industry and the financial investment industry on February 25, the global ESS market will grow from 1.2GW in 2017 to 9.7GW in 2024, chalking up an average annual growth rate of about 35%. There is also a prospect that the growth rate will be further raised by expansion policies of major countries leading the installation of renewable energy generation facilities such as the United States.
Korean companies such as LG Chem and Samsung SDI which are leaders in ESS market shares are concentrating on strengthening their competitiveness while making a foray into related markets.
LG Chem began to invade the US market after recently signing a business agreement with US solar company PetersonDean. Therefore, PetersonDean will use LG Chem's ESSs for home solar power generation facilities. The company is said to be doing business in seven US states including California, Colorado, Florida and Arizona.
Based on this business agreement, LG Chem is expected to put a spur to its business activities in the North American ESS market. Previously, LG Chem launched ESS products for home use by signing a business agreement with US companies including Sunrun and Iguana.
In the case of Samsung SDI, ESS sales are estimated to have more than doubled from the previous year. It is predicted that the company will continue the same level of growth this year.
In addition, the United States, which is the largest consumer of ESSs, is expected to increase demand by easing regulations while allowing ESS commercialization at the federal government level. The FERC, which manages the US federal power grid, recently set the price of electric power stored in the ESS and made its transmission possible. They allowed electric power providers to do business using ESSs.
In Korea, there is a trend to strengthen relevant regulations, such as making ESS installation obligatory when public buildings are built.
In addition, it is expected that it will be an opportunity for Korean battery companies to turn a misfortune into a blessing as they have increase the proportion of ESS production at local factories in China in order to respond to the Chinese government’s sanctions against their electric vehicle batteries.