Comment by ZeroGravitas

Another entry for the "good news as bad news" genre, also on Chinese batteries:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/woodmackenzie/2024/04/17/crises...

> Back in 2021 and 2022, battery supply was the biggest bottleneck for the energy storage supply chain. Stationery energy storage system (ESS) integrators and developers spent a considerable amount of time negotiating contracts with battery manufacturers who were instead prioritising automaker clients. Since the second half of 2022, battery cell plants dedicated to the ESS sectors have risen in China, with more than 20 plants announced by the end of 2023. However, less than half of the ESS battery cell capacity was utilised throughout the year. Within 2023, the ESS battery cell market went from a deficit into a surplus. Together with declining battery raw material prices, the price of ESS lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells plummeted by more than 30% within 2023.

> The energy storage system market is even worse.

To summarise in non-scandalised language:

1. They couldn't get grid batteries because the EV market took them all in previous years.

2. People set up new factories specialising in Grid batteries.

3. The grid battery users managed to actually buy some batteries from these factories.

4. The price went down due to the increased supply.

It's not clear if it's partly racism and fossil fuel propaganda but the consistent theme seems to be that American business journalists are horrified that competition can lead to lower prices and margins.

This is the foundational theoretical justification of all free market capitalism and when it actually happens it terrifies them!