Global shipments of battery energy storage systems (BESS) almost doubled in the first half of this year, compared to the corresponding period a year earlier, new data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence has revealed.
Some 490GWh of BESS cells and 313GWh of BESS systems were shipped globally in H1 2026, with Chinese manufacturers continuing to dominate both cell production and system integration, the data showed.
The top ten BESS cell producers are all Chinese, while in terms of BESS systems, nine of the top ten are Chinese, with Tesla the only outlier.
“Beyond the robust headline growth, the market is undergoing profound structural differentiation,” commented Calvin Xu, BESS analyst, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
“This includes diverging concentration trends between cell manufacturing and system integration, reshuffled enterprise rankings, and intensified mid-tier competition, marking a critical shift from scale expansion to stratified competition across the industrial chain.”
Leading the charge
CATL (pictured) remained the largest BESS cell supplier during the period, accounting for 22% of global shipments. Its market share was broadly unchanged from 21.7% a year earlier, however the volume of shipments doubled year on year.
HiTHIUM ranked second with a 10.2% share, following 63.5% shipment growth, while EVE Energy was third with 9% and shipment growth of 54.9%. BYD Energy Storage moved from sixth place in H1 2025 to fourth this year, with a 6.7% share and 83.3% year-on-year growth. Cornex also climbed two positions to fifth, taking 6.5% of the market after shipments increased 116%.
Together, the top ten suppliers accounted for 83.3% of global shipments, however this was 6.3 percentage points lower than a year earlier.
In terms of system integration, global shipments totalled around 313GWh in the first half of 2026, an increase of 93% year on year, while the top ten integrators accounted for 60% of shipments.
BYD Energy Storage ranked first with a 9.1% market share, following shipment growth of 96.6%. Sungrow Power was second with 8.8%, while CATL ranked third with 8%. Tesla and HyperStrong rounded off the top five.
‘Three-tier pattern’
“The global energy storage market has now formed a clear three-tier pattern: Stable top-tier leaders, fast-growing second-tier vendors, and crowded mid-tier competitors,” added Calvin Xu, BESS analyst, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
“Sustained market fragmentation and full-spectrum competition is expected to remain the industry’s long-term trend.” Read more here.
