appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Themis Qi

Competition among Chinese energy-storage firms is intensifying in the Middle East, as a massive deal that was expected to go to global electric vehicle (EV) battery king Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) was ultimately won by BYD and Sungrow Power Supply.
Shenzhen-headquartered BYD, which makes EVs and batteries, announced early this month that it would provide 11.275 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy storage to Round-The-Clock (RTC), a solar project being built by United Arab Emirates (UAE) power company Masdar. In May, Hefei-based Sungrow said it had won a 7.5GWh energy-storage order for the same project.
The two orders, totalling 18.775GWh, account for nearly all of the planned storage capacity of RTC, which features a 5.2 gigawatt solar photovoltaic plant and 19GWh of battery storage.
Located in Abu Dhabi’s desert, the RTC project was unveiled last year as the world’s first large-scale, combined solar and battery storage facility, supporting the UAE’s Energy Strategy 2050 and Net Zero by 2050 goals, according to the website of the Emirates Water and Electricity Company.
In January 2025, the megaproject was expected to be granted to CATL, which established a 19GWh partnership with Masdar that month, involving an investment of US$6 billion.
“As major battery suppliers are expecting to have a new growth engine amid the fierce race in electric-car batteries, the competition in the energy storage sector is inevitable,” said Yale Zhang, managing director at the consultancy Automotive Foresight in Shanghai.
Zhang added that cost was a key factor, as energy-storage systems required lower energy density but higher safety within budget constraints, as even affluent countries in the Middle East would expect to control their costs.
The need for battery energy-storage systems (BESS) has soared in recent years owing to energy price fluctuations amid geopolitical tensions and a meteoric rise in the number of power-hungry artificial intelligence data centres, principally benefiting manufacturers in Asia.
Leveraging their edge in technologies and manufacturing, China’s BESS integrators held a global market share of 76 per cent last year, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie.
In the first quarter of the year, Chinese integrators also occupied seven out of the top 10 spots in a ranking based on shipments of energy-storage systems by Taipei-based InfoLink Consulting. BYD topped the leaderboard for the first time, while US giant Tesla dropped to fourth and CATL landed at eighth.

In the Middle East, BYD and Sungrow together captured 87 per cent of the market last year, Wood Mackenzie said.
Energy storage is expected to be a new pillar for EV battery makers in China, as it provides higher profit margins.
Dragged by weakening EV demand due to reduced subsidies, even CATL – which commanded more than 40 per cent of the global EV battery market in the first five months of the year – has taken a profitability hit. Its gross margins for EV batteries fell about 2 percentage points to 20.6 per cent for the first half of the year. However, the energy-storage business booked a margin of nearly 24 per cent.
Amid growing competition in energy storage, margins in the Middle East had fallen below what was possible in the past, but further significant drops were unlikely, according to Lucas Zhang Liutong, director of Hong Kong-based consultancy WaterRock Energy Economics.
Besides, China’s BESS makers may need to directly invest in building local assembly plants and training local labour, which the Middle Eastern countries would heavily favour in tender evaluations, Zhang said.


Chinese firms keen on investing in Oman’s International Financial Centre: official

Why the Global South keeps its doors wide open to Russia

Saudis turn to Western, regional allies as missile defences run low

Who is Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the elusive Yemeni commander behind Red Sea-Saudi blitz?

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

CATL, BYD battle for supremacy in Middle East energy-storage market

Demand for battery energy-storage systems, like this unit from BYD, has soared in recent years. Photo: Handout

A man walks beneath photovoltaic panels at al-Dhafra Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Independent Power Producer (IPP) project south of the capital Abu Dhabi, on November 13, 2023. Photo: AFP

Chinese battery giant CATL posts record quarterly profits amid green energy boom

Battery maker CATL has posted record quarterly sales amid the Iran war, which has driven global demand for green-energy solutions. Photo: Shutterstock Images

CATL’s Shenxing Battery III on display ahead of the Auto China show in Beijing, April 21, 2026. Photo: Reuters

Goldman Sachs forecasts 50% jump for battery giant CATL’s shares as energy storage takes off

CATL’s booth at the Auto China 2024 exhibition. Photo: Shutterstock Images

Is EV battery technology nearing an inflection point? CATL boss expresses doubts

Robin Zeng Yuqun, head of the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) battery maker, CATL, at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as "Summer Davos", held in Dalian, in northeast China’s Liaoning province. Photo: Weibo

A CATL Shenxing Battery III at Auto China, the world’s largest car show, in Beijing on April 21. Photo: Reuters

Energy storage sector tested as China sets 60-day payment cap in anti-involution campaign

A CATL battery display at Auto China in Beijing in April. Photo: Reuters

Eleven key industry players including CATL and BYD’s Fudi Battery have signalled commitment to the payment initiative. Photo: AFP

Business

Climate and energy

China EVs

China Business

Companies

BYD, Sungrow win contracts for storage at massive UAE solar plant, as EV battery makers seek better margins selling storage systems


BYD, Sungrow win contracts for storage at massive UAE solar plant, as EV battery makers seek better margins selling storage systems.


CATL, BYD battle for supremacy in Middle East energy-storage market

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}BYD, Sungrow win contracts for storage at massive UAE solar plant, as EV battery makers seek better margins selling storage systems

BYD, Sungrow win contracts for storage at massive UAE solar plant, as EV battery makers seek better margins selling storage systems