China’s energy storage sector may be at the start of a price trend reversal, with recent data showing price increases.
Driven by multiple factors—including a sharp rebound in lithium carbonate prices, a shift in capacity toward large-format cells, and stronger-than-expected overseas demand—China’s energy storage supply chain is seeing a price rise across the board.
In early March, mainstream 314Ah cells in China were priced at close to RMB0.4/Wh (US$0.058/Wh), with system prices rebounding in tandem. That cell price is up 30% compared to January and up just over 50% from the lows in 2025.
This reflects not just cost pass-through but also a shift from cutthroat internal competition toward value-based competition.
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The following figures only relate to the domestic Chinese energy storage market, but dynamics there typically eventually spill out into the global market, with China still accounting for the majority of battery and BESS manufacturing.
Across-the-board price rallies; cost recovery takes center stage
The energy storage supply chain is now seeing a clear pattern: cells lead the rally, with system prices following.
Upstream lithium carbonate prices keep climbing. Data from Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) shows that as of 27 February, industrial-grade lithium carbonate jumped nearly 20% week-on-week to 170,000 RMB/ton. Cell-grade lithium carbonate traded in the range of 155,000–180,000 RMB/ton, marking a strong rebound from late-2025 lows. This price level has directly pushed up cell manufacturing costs.
In February 2026, bidding prices for 314Ah cells in the government-owned State Power Investment Corporation’s (SPIC) 7GWh energy storage cell tender rose to 0.325–0.355 RMB/Wh, up from the 0.29–0.35 RMB/Wh in December 2025.
Some suppliers even quoted up to 0.39 RMB/Wh. Overall, prices have rebounded more than 30%, reversing the long-running downtrend.
SPIC 2026 Third Batch Centralized Procurement (7GWh Energy Storage Cells)
| Company | Bidding Price (in billion RMB) | Unit Price (RMB/Wh) |
| Guoning Storage (Fujian) Technology Co., Ltd. | 2.485 | 0.355 |
| Envision AESC (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. | 2.275 | 0.325 |
| Xiamen Haichen Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. | 2.45 | 0.35 |
| CORNEX New Energy Co., Ltd. | 2.415 | 0.345 |
In March, spot prices for 314Ah energy storage cells continued to rise, driven by lithium carbonate prices breaking through 180,000 RMB/ton and leading manufacturers operating at full capacity.
According to Mysteel and SMM data, 314Ah energy storage cell prices have rebounded across the board: quotes from top-tier manufacturers approached 0.4 RMB/Wh, up more than 30% from January lows, while second-tier suppliers generally quoted around 0.35 RMB/Wh. This represents a substantial recovery from the 2025 low of 0.26 RMB/Wh.
Notably, the industry is in a transition phase from 314Ah to 500Ah+ largeformat cells, resulting in tight supply. Delivery lead times have extended to 45–60 days, and rush orders even carry a 5%–10% premium.
Latest InfoLink data shows that as of 6 March, average prices for 314Ah prismatic LFP energy storage cells reached 0.36 RMB/Wh, with the highest quote hitting 0.39 RMB/Wh. The firm noted that on the supply-demand front, energy storage cell lines maintained high utilisation rates in March. Some players are accelerating new capacity ramp-ups, and overall shipment volumes are expected to remain at a high level.
Higher cell prices have fed directly through to energy storage systems, pushing system prices higher in tandem. Rising cell costs have squeezed margins for system integrators, and some leading manufacturers are preparing price adjustments.
According to the 2026–2027 China Energy Storage Plant EPC Cost White Paper, mainstream LFP energy storage system prices surpassed 0.61 RMB/Wh in February, up roughly 10.9% from the December 2025 level of around 0.55 RMB/Wh. Mainstream 2–4 hour liquid-cooled system prices also broke above 0.61 RMB/Wh, rising 5%–8% month-on-month.
On 5 March, a company called Beijing Huake Energy Storage (1C) released the bidding result for the processing service procurement of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) electrochemical energy storage system battery cabins for an 80MW/80MWh project. CATL, the largest lithium-ion manufacturer globally, won the bid with a total quoted price of RMB48.082926 million, translating to a unit price of 0.601 RMB/Wh.
According to Mysteel, cell manufacturers have already exhausted their low-cost lithium carbonate inventories accumulated earlier, and cells entering new production runs now face high raw material costs. Coupled with recovering downstream demand, the energy storage system price is expected to move higher.
The firm notes that this round of price gains stems not only from cost pressures but also from a reshaped supply-demand structure.
First, supply-demand conditions are improving as global lithium cell production plans for March 2026 beat expectations, with energy storage accounting for over 40%.
Second, with the implementation of the 15th Five-Year Plan in China, the demand for renewable energy paired with energy storage has become more rigid.
Third, combined with surging data center storage demand driven by explosive growth in AI computing power, the market demand remains robust during the traditionally slow season.
Looking ahead, SMM forecasts that if energy storage demand continues to surpass expectations and surge, the peak price for 314Ah cells could reach 0.42 RMB/Wh, with corresponding energy storage system prices potentially breaking above 0.65 RMB/Wh.
