China’s Jinko Solar Expects to Double Energy Storage Shipments in 2026

(Yicai) June 3 -- Jinko Solar Holding, one of the world’s biggest photovoltaic panel makers, has forecast its energy storage shipments to double in terms of gigawatt-hours this year amid surging electricity prices in key markets such as the Asia-Pacific.Jinko Solar will ship 10 GWh of energy storage systems in 2026, compared with 5.2 GWh last year and 1.2 GWh in 2024, Vice President Dany Qian told Yicai at an industry summit yesterday. The Shanghai-based firm will prioritize higher-margin projects from among its high-potential order backlog, she added.The company’s financial report for 2025 did not disclose specific earnings figures for its energy storage business, but it did show that the business was still unprofitable and that overseas deliveries made up more than 80 percent of the total.“Last year marked the first year of significant growth for the company’s energy storage business,” Qian noted.The business still has room to grow further over the next five years, with the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America becoming the main emerging markets, Qian said, noting that high electricity prices in most of the Asia-Pacific region are the core factor driving up demand.Pakistan, for example, has shot up into the top five markets globally, mainly because of its excessively high electricity prices, she said. Moreover, the Middle East has significant potential in data centers, power demand, and energy transition thanks to its abundant solar resources, low land costs, and strong national finances.According to BloombergNEF statistics, the global new installed capacity of energy storage was 112 GW/307 GWh last year, up 48 percent from 2024, and the figure is expected to surge by 41 percent to 158 GW/459 GWh this year. The agency predicted that global installed capacity will be 10 times that of 2025 by the end of 2036.Regarding the current competitive landscape of the energy storage industry, Qian stated that since 2022, the market has gradually heated up, but some rival firms have withdrawn due to losses caused by irrational competition in the sector.“The total number of manufacturers in the energy storage industry is decreasing,” she said. “The past model of competing on scale, production capacity, and manufacturing is no longer effective. Enterprises will mainly compete on their technical, solution, and global service capabilities.”Editor: Tom Litting