[SMM Analysis] Lithium Battery Capacity Goes Global Boom

Following the wave of energy storage orders going global, the Middle East has become a core hub for the overseas expansion of China's lithium battery industry capacity, leveraging its commitment to energy transition and strategic geographical advantages. Domestic leading enterprises have taken the lead in deploying the entire industry chain, creating deep resonance with the explosive demand in the Middle East's energy storage market.

On the battery front, CORNEX New Energy took the initiative first. Public information indicates that this will be CORNEX New Energy's first overseas joint venture energy storage battery plant.

According to foreign media reports on January 18, CORNEX New Energy signed a cooperation agreement with the Egyptian industrial manufacturer Kemet. The two parties will collaborate to build an energy storage battery factory in Egypt. Under the agreement, the core technology for the energy storage battery plant will be provided by CORNEX New Energy. The project involves an investment of $200 million, and the factory is expected to achieve an annual production capacity of 5 GWh upon completion.

On January 16, CORNEX New Energy officially announced the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement with Egypt's WeaCan and Kemet. CORNEX New Energy, as the core supplier of technology and products, will supply a total of 6 GWh of high-grade energy storage products in phases. WeaCan and Kemet, as key facilitators for project implementation, will fully handle application scenario matching, government approval coordination, grid connection support, and localized operational services, leveraging their deep local industry resources and mature project operation experience in Egypt.

Besides CORNEX New Energy, another energy storage system enterprise, Sungrow, plans to build a battery energy storage system (BESS) manufacturing plant in the TEDA industrial zone of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, covering an area of approximately 50,000 m². This is Sungrow's first production site in the Middle East and Africa. The factory is expected to create about 150 direct jobs, with production scheduled to commence in April 2027 and an annual capacity of 10 GWh.

On the materials front, the electrolyte company Capchem announced plans to invest in a lithium-ion battery materials project in Saudi Arabia's Yanbu Industrial City through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Capchem Middle East Company. The total investment is approximately $260 million.

The project will establish production lines with an annual capacity of 200,000 mt of carbonate solvents and a co-production capacity of 100,000 mt of ethylene glycol. The construction period will not exceed three years, with funding sourced from the company's own funds, self-raised funds, or by introducing third-party strategic investors for joint investment. The core point attracting enterprises to deeply layout in the region stems from the rise of the Middle East's ESS market. This area is accelerating its transformation from a "petroleum empire" to a "zero-carbon oasis." Countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE have set clear renewable energy targets. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 requires over 15GWh of ESS, while the UAE is advancing the world's largest PV+ESS project. In 2023, regional ESS installations reached 1.2GWh, with lithium batteries accounting for 75%. Driven by the green hydrogen industry and the need for power supply security in extreme climates, it is expected that installations will grow tenfold by 2030. At the policy level, benefits such as tax exemptions in free trade zones and relaxed foreign ownership rules further lower the barriers for enterprises to establish themselves.

Overall, the Middle East layout of Chinese lithium battery enterprises is both an inevitable choice for their globalization and a significant path to support the regional energy transition. Despite facing challenges such as high-temperature technical bottlenecks and localization barriers, with the maturation of capacity deployment and technology adaptation, both sides will achieve a higher level of mutual benefit in the green energy sector.