China’s top battery makers have gained more than $70bn in market capitalization since the US and Israel attacked Iran, highlighting investor expectations of a long-term boost for clean energy.
Neil Beveridge, who leads Bernstein’s energy research, expects China, the world’s biggest oil importer, to double down on its plan to “electrify everything”. Other large Asian economies, including Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, may also seek out clean energy and fuels.
“This totally changes the whole energy paradigm,” he said, adding: “Even if the war ends next month . . . there is no going back.
Electricity grids need batteries for storage as they rely more on renewables, which produce power intermittently. Batteries are also essential to support energy-hungry data centres. The value of just the domestic Chinese market for grid-scale battery storage is forecast to surge to $199bn by 2032, from $48bn last year, according to Mobility Foresights, a research group.
Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute, pointed out that recent attacks on liquefied natural gas infrastructure in the Gulf highlight the “inherent risks of fossil fuel dependency”.
“East Asian countries most reliant on imported LNG will soon face an immeasurable economic shock, despite their distance from the conflict,” he said, adding that developing countries “would be wise” to invest in heavily in clean energy and transport to shield themselves from such geopolitical shocks in the future.