[SMM Energy Storage Battery Cell Market Weekly Review 8.27] Battery cell prices pull back slightly, tighter US grid access regulations for large-scale equipment

This week, energy storage battery cell prices pulled back slightly. Among them, 314Ah battery cell prices experienced slight softening; 100Ah battery cells were affected by high residential ESS inventory and weakening downstream demand, compounded by the ongoing product iteration towards larger-capacity cells, which further weakened demand support, leading to a relatively significant price pullback.

Outside China, on August 26, the US signed an executive order, "Declaring a National Emergency to Secure the United States Bulk-Power System," declaring a national emergency regarding supply chain risks to the bulk-power system and authorizing the Department of Energy to restrict the procurement, importation, transfer, and installation of certain foreign-manufactured equipment. The policy covers transmission networks of 69kV and above, with BESS, grid-tie inverters, industrial control systems, and related software, firmware, remote access, and operation and maintenance services all included in the scope of review.

However, the policy is not a blanket ban on foreign equipment; specific transactions must still involve a Covered Foreign Entity and be determined to pose an unacceptable national security risk. The Department of Energy also retains mechanisms for licensing, supplier pre-certification, and risk mitigation, and will formulate implementation rules within 120 days.

In the short term, the actual impact of this policy on Chinese energy storage shipments is relatively limited, with the effects mainly reflected in changes to procurement and compliance expectations. Considering that the domestic US energy storage supply chain is currently still unable to fully meet rapidly growing demand, the practical feasibility of completely excluding China's supply chain in the short term is low. It is more likely that subsequent moves will proceed through prioritized restrictions on high-risk equipment, localization rectification, and gradual substitution. The actual impact still depends on the subsequent detailed implementation rules.

SMM New Energy Research Department

Wang Cong 021-51666838

Ma Rui 021-51595780

Feng Disheng 021-51666714

Lyu Yanlin 021-20707875

Zhang Haohan 021-51666752

Wang Zihan 021-51666914

Wang Jie 021-51595902

Xu Yang 021-51666760

Chen Bolin 021-51666836

Yang Le 021-51595898

Li Yisha 021-51666730

Huang Chencong 021-51595860