SEOUL KOREA - Samsung SDI has ranked No. 1 in the world in the area of large-capacity lithium-ion energy storage systems. It was largely thanks to the aggressive market expansion strategy to become the world's No. 1 in every market segment adopted by the company since early this year. The company has been the perennial leader in small-sized lithium-ion rechargeable batteries for smartphones.
According to Japanese battery market research firm B3, Samsung SDI was ranked at the top for the first time with a total lithium-ion ESS sales of 183.7 MWh by overtaking BYD Co. Ltd. of China. This is more than a 100 percent growth from last year's 84.5 MWh, accounting for 23.6 percent of the global market share. The demand for energy storage systems has grown rapidly across the world as more corporate power customers try to save energy bills by storing electricity during late night off-peak hours and combining renewable electric power sources such as solar and wind power. BYD fell to the status of No. 3 with sales of 117.9 MWh, taking up only 15.2 percent of the market. The runner-up was LG Chem that sold 155.6 MWh (20.0%).