Insights into Competitive Dynamics in the Commercial Energy Storage Sector: Analyzing Industry Transformation from Leading Companies

Industrial and Commercial Energy Storage: Insights from Competitive Dynamics

As we began 2025, the industrial and commercial energy storage market in China entered a competitive landscape that can be described as a “red sea.” Although the market size is projected to reach trillions, challenges such as product homogeneity, price competition, and immature business models have emerged as significant pain points. Under this fierce competition, leading companies like Trina Storage and Singularity Energy are adopting differentiated strategies to capture market share. The question arises: who can uncover the underlying logic of industrial and commercial energy storage and seize the market opportunities?

In recent years, advancements in storage technology and a steady decline in costs have significantly improved the performance and economic viability of industrial and commercial energy storage systems. The design and development of these products are increasingly leaning towards precision and specialization, with new offerings such as large-capacity storage cabinets, modular storage products, direct current coupling designs for solar and storage, and integrated mobile storage vehicles being introduced. According to statistics from Polaris Storage Network, in regions like Guangdong and Zhejiang, the equivalent price difference of industrial and commercial storage projects for two daily charge and discharge cycles has exceeded 1.2 yuan/kWh, with theoretical internal rates of return (IRR) surpassing 15%, indicating favorable investment returns. It is anticipated that by 2025, the newly added scale in China’s industrial and commercial energy storage market could reach 4GW/10GWh.

With continued policy support and a maturing market, the industrial and commercial energy storage sector is poised for broader development.

1. The Race in a Red Sea Market

The year 2025 kicked off with an aggressive price war in industrial and commercial energy storage. At a brand launch event for Bosideng Storage, a staggering price of 0.499 yuan/Wh was displayed, a sharp drop from the average industry quote of around 1 yuan just a year prior. This drastic price reduction highlights the chaotic expansion within the energy storage sector. The greatest challenge for current players is transforming uncertainties into certainties regarding project returns, long-term operations, and power station safety.

Approximately 90% of industrial and commercial storage scenarios are focused on peak-valley arbitrage, where charging occurs at low electricity prices and discharging at high prices. However, data from the China Electricity Council reveals that in 2023, over 57% of energy storage stations experienced unplanned outages, with more than 80% of these outages attributed to equipment defects, system anomalies, and poor integration. At the World Energy Storage Conference held by CATL at the end of 2023, it was noted that early-stage operational power-type storage systems claimed a lifespan of 10 years, yet many were decommissioned within 3 years.

The quality of equipment has emerged as a significant obstacle in industrial and commercial energy storage. Trina Solar, for instance, utilizes self-developed automotive-grade A+ 314Ah battery cells combined with Pack Pro battery module fire safety designs to enhance safety from the core to the enclosure. Their liquid cooling temperature control system reduces system losses and extends cycle life. Additionally, software operational capabilities are vital. As AI penetration increases, Trina is integrating an AI Energy Cloud platform to predict electricity prices and loads in real time, dynamically optimizing charging and discharging strategies to enhance project returns.

Industrial and commercial energy storage projects must navigate countless niche scenarios, necessitating improved operational efficiency and methods to address increasingly diverse demands and complex electricity usage conditions. Trina Storage offers flexible energy storage system configurations tailored to the diverse needs of commercial users, such as integrated solar-storage solutions, virtual power plants, and zero-carbon parks. Their next-generation integrated storage cabinets focus on balancing efficiency and product performance, reducing land area by 38.1% while increasing energy density by over 55.9%, significantly shortening the return on investment period and accelerating the overall lifecycle profitability.

Sunshine Smart Energy Cloud Platform provides comprehensive monitoring, utilizing Sunshine Power’s self-developed EMS intelligent energy dispatch management system, which employs a unique En-grow algorithm. This system leverages vast TB-level deep learning to generate optimal dispatch strategies. Sunshine’s EMS supports collaborative interactions across photovoltaic, storage, and charging pile scenarios, integrating demand control, peak-valley arbitrage strategies, and optimal economic modeling to forecast power loads.

Envision’s EnPower intelligent energy storage system integrates AI big data analytics to support various trading types, enhancing power trading strategies and efficiency. The backdrop of low-price competition and unhealthy market practices is characterized by the aggressive pursuit of market share through inferior products, while the battle for incremental market opportunities hinges on strategic clarity.

2. The Battle of Technical Pathways

The China Chemical and Physical Power Industry Association projects that by 2025, global industrial and commercial energy storage installations could reach 11.5GW, with a market size between 19 billion and 24 billion yuan. Within China, there is an expected growth space of approximately 2.2GW/5.5GWh, leading to a cumulative market size of about 6.5 billion to 8 billion yuan. While the market size for industrial and commercial storage is relatively small compared to large-scale storage, the number of players is increasing, intensifying competition.

Owners frequently face challenges in decision-making and contract signing due to various considerations, including costs, policies, safety, and operations. This situation compels energy storage companies to accelerate technological iterations and develop products that better meet owners’ needs. At this stage, the energy storage industry is highly competitive, focusing on quality, pricing, and technology.

Trina Storage is leveraging a composite strategy of “scenario-based customization, technological innovation, customer value enhancement, and global service” to secure a leading position in the industrial and commercial energy storage market. The company relies on an AI platform and long-term service agreements to build a differentiated competitive edge, aiding clients in achieving low-carbon transitions and maximizing returns. Trina is continuously developing a unique advantage through a dual approach of “self-research and development + global delivery.” By optimizing cell structure and manufacturing processes, Trina has developed high-safety, high-performance, long-lifespan battery cells with zero degradation in the first year and a cycle life exceeding 12,000 charge cycles.

Trina offers flexible combination solutions tailored to regional needs, implementing grid-style energy storage systems in areas with limited land resources, while ensuring device stability in extreme climate zones. Meanwhile, Singularity Energy’s differentiated strategy focuses on modularity. Their user-side energy storage product, eBlock-230, achieves a discharge depth of 100%, an AC conversion efficiency of ≥90%, significantly improved energy density, reduced associated costs by 12%, and decreased auxiliary power losses by 8%, improving internal return rates by 3%. Although the modular approach has clear technical advantages, deploying large energy storage systems using this method is more challenging compared to centralized solutions. For rapid promotion, modular solutions must explore new application areas rather than remain confined to large-scale and commercial storage tracks.

Other manufacturers are also sketching out their innovation maps. Kstar’s liquid-cooling and air-cooling systems operate concurrently, with a 125kW/233kWh liquid-cooling system featuring CATL cells and a fully self-developed 3S system, optimizing revenue models through time-of-use pricing strategies and covering numerous European countries in the overseas market. Haibo’s liquid-cooled outdoor cabinet features an “extreme safety” design, integrating intelligent fire protection and predictive diagnostic systems to meet the rapid deployment needs of distributed storage.

As the power market and virtual plants evolve, industrial and commercial energy storage will gradually participate in the electricity market and provide auxiliary services, potentially leading to further innovations in technical pathways.

3. Moving from Disorder to Order

“In the second half of the storage sector, including industrial and commercial energy storage, the focus is on sustainability,” states Sunshine Power. The key factors for sustainable and healthy development of industrial and commercial energy storage are safety, efficiency, and a long-term vision. A single product’s performance advantage is no longer sufficient for success. Companies need to build full-chain capabilities encompassing “scenario insights, solution design, and operational optimization,” evolving their business models from mere product sales to ecosystem co-creation.

Trina has established a global service system based on “technology output + localized operations,” setting up three system integration centers in China, Europe, and North America to provide one-stop services from solution design to operational maintenance. Innovation in business models will dictate the industry’s profitability ceiling. According to the Zhejiang Provincial Energy Bureau, it is estimated that in 2024, the electricity market transaction volume in Zhejiang will reach approximately 330 billion kWh, reflecting a year-on-year growth of about 6.45%, with the number of market users expected to increase further. In the context of the electricity spot market, the pricing landscape will become more complex, making predictions increasingly challenging.

Some domestic energy storage system integrators have proactively recognized this vast market potential and are developing storage products that incorporate predictive and trading capabilities. In terms of profitability models, Trina is exploring combining frequency modulation revenue with power market auxiliary services and electricity trading to break through the limitations of single peak-valley arbitrage. Singularity Energy has introduced an “Energy Storage as a Service” (ESaaS) model, allowing users to choose financing leases or revenue sharing, thus lowering initial investment thresholds.

Industry-level innovations are also emerging. Companies like Trina and Kubo Energy are promoting a “source-grid-load-storage” bidirectional sharing model, aggregating distributed energy storage resources via cloud platforms to facilitate cross-entity electricity trading. Kstar, in collaboration with Nari Technology, is developing a storage cloud platform that connects industrial and commercial energy storage systems to regional virtual power plants, enabling participation in spot market arbitrage and ancillary service bidding.

In the context of carbon neutrality, low-carbon transitions are a critical challenge faced by both nations and enterprises. Whether addressing the instability of high proportions of renewable energy integration into the grid or deeply engaging in electricity market transactions, industrial and commercial energy storage will play a crucial role in the new power system, with numerous application scenarios waiting to be explored. The key turning point in moving this market from disorder to order hinges on whether one or several companies can break through, embodying a long-term value orientation and leading industrial and commercial energy storage towards a healthier and more sustainable ecosystem.

4. Conclusion

The reshuffling of the industrial and commercial energy storage sector is inevitable. Trina Storage leads the market through technological depth and global layout, while Singularity Energy opens up the small and medium market with modular innovations. Manufacturers like Kstar and Nari Technology are building competitive advantages in niche areas. The companies that ultimately succeed will be those that can deeply integrate technological iterations, scenario understanding, and innovative business models. For industry participants, the key to gaining an advantage in this energy revolution lies in stepping beyond homogeneous competition and reconstructing value along differentiated paths.