The US government believes that relying on Chinese lithium batteries is too risky
Analysts at the US Department of Homeland Security shared an internal report to local agencies in August, warning them about the economic risks of using Chinese utility storage batteries. . It warns that reliance on Chinese batteries could harm the development of a secure supply chain in the US.
The document, first obtained by the national security transparency nonprofit Property of the People and viewed by WIRED, accuses Chinese companies of “using People’s Republic of China state support.” China to quickly and cheaply enter the emerging US utility battery energy storage industry and create supply chain dependence on China” and require reporting of any suspicious activity .
Specifically, the report accuses three companies—Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), Build Your Dreams (BYD) and Ruipu Energy Co. Ltd. (REPT)—has “benefited from various forms of state support and leveraged this to further its business strategy to gain market share in the US.”
Currently, CATL and BYD lead the global energy storage battery market, with 40% and 12% market sharerespectively, according to Korean energy research company SNE Research. 8 out of the top 10 companies in the industry are from China, so there are few alternatives when building grid storage systems.
The report said it built on previous documents that analyzed “the use of anti-competitive tactics by Chinese state-backed companies in the battery and electric vehicle supply chain.” DHS did not respond to a request for further comment.
In 2022, CATL signed an agreement with Primergy Solar to build the largest U.S. solar and storage project in Nevada, which will become operational this year. Its battery products have also been used by Duke Energy, a North Carolina-based utility company. eliminate CATL as the provider of electrical storage systems for marine facilities after concerns around national security were raised in part by lawmakers in Washington.
In an emailed statement, Fred Zhang, a spokesman for CATL, denied that the company had relied on state support to gain an advantage. “CATL has achieved outstanding growth through continuous innovation, visionary strategic planning and commitment to providing high quality products at reasonable costs,” the statement said.
BYD and REPT did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
Following efforts to limit the competitiveness of Chinese electric vehicle companies, the US government is now also concerned that domestic utilities could become too dependent on Chinese batteries for storage. energy.
