APAC BESS daily brief · 6 Nov 2026

SNE Research: global ESS battery shipments hit 779.9 GWh in Q1–Q3, up 73%; Korean makers' North America share rises to 20.9%

Asia Economy, citing SNE Research, reports global lithium-ion ESS battery shipments of 779.9 GWh in Q1–Q3 2026, up 73% year on year, with a record 286.8 GWh in Q3. LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI's combined North America share rose from 13.4% to 20.9%.

• China 313.1 GWh; outside China 466.8 GWh (59.9%); North America 122.3 GWh (+71%), Europe 131.2 GWh (+87%).
• Grid-scale use 575.9 GWh, 73.8% of the total.
• LG Energy Solution shipped 22.1 GWh in Q1–Q3 (+355%), 10.1 GWh in Q3; Samsung SDI 12.0 GWh (+46%).

• View: rising Korean share in North America widens bankable non-Chinese supply options for projects facing supply-chain restrictions.

Sources: Asia Economy (아시아경제)

Tokyo Gas: grid-scale battery capacity planned for operation reaches about 1.1 GW, targets 2 GW in early 2030s

In its 5 November autumn press-briefing deck, Tokyo Gas said that about two years after fully entering grid-scale batteries its capacity planned for operation has reached about 1.1 GW, and it aims to reach 2 GW in the early 2030s. The deck also notes a service launched on 4 November that buys grid discharge from home batteries at up to 70 yen/kWh.

• Capacity planned for operation passed 1 GW on 15 July; on 26 October Tokyo Gas signed an agreement with GS Yuasa to cooperate on battery systems in Thailand.
• Site-level capacities are shown in the deck but not cited here.

• Financing structure and lenders: not publicly disclosed.
• View: a major gas utility scaling as operator/aggregator adds route-to-market capacity for third-party battery sites.

Sources: Tokyo Gas

Digital Grid's grid-scale battery volume passes 250 MW, up 50 MW in about a month

TSE Growth-listed Digital Grid said on 5 November that the grid-scale battery capacity it handles exceeded 250 MW as of 4 November 2026. With a run of commercial-operation starts, volume rose from 200 MW to 250 MW in about a month and now spans all nine power areas outside Okinawa.

• Areas: Hokkaido, Tohoku, Tokyo, Chubu, Hokuriku, Kansai, Chugoku, Shikoku, Kyushu.

• Individual projects, clients and contract terms: not publicly disclosed.

Sources: PR TIMES (Digital Grid)

Germany: Return secures €835m portfolio financing from Deutsche Bank and Rabobank for BESS

Energy flexibility company Return has secured €835m of portfolio financing from Deutsche Bank and Rabobank to expand battery storage in Germany; the framework covers three German projects totalling 117 MW. Return plans to install at least 1 GW a year in Germany from 2027, requiring €750m–€1.2bn of investment annually.

• ENGIE expanded its contracted battery flexibility with Return in Germany to 400 MW; Centrica Energy signed a separate 100 MW agreement.

• Lenders: Deutsche Bank and Rabobank (also financial advisor); lenders' counsel White & Case. Tenor: not publicly disclosed.
• Return used a similar framework for its Sirius project in the Netherlands, which reached financial close earlier this year.
• View: a portfolio framework backed by contracted flexibility is a template APAC aggregator-style platforms can borrow.

Sources: SolarQuarter

China's independent storage rush: 64.02% of Jan–Jul procurement, but many plants earn only 3–4%

A feature republished by Sina says independent (standalone) storage made up 64.02% of China's storage procurement in January–July 2026, or 216.51 GWh. It quotes Xingchen Xinneng chair Liu Na: in only a few of the 28 provinces with continuous spot markets can storage reach a normal 8% IRR, while many plants earn just 3–4%.

• Shandong Dezhou Lingcheng Fengyi 300 MW/1,200 MWh: in April 2026 capacity fees were 52% of revenue, spot arbitrage 33%, AGC regulation 15%; overall IRR 9–10%.
• Inner Mongolia issued three independent-storage lists (March–August) totalling 80 projects.

• In June 2026 Canadian Solar's Jiuquan 200 MW/800 MWh plant issued China's first independent-storage REIT, raising 451 million yuan.
• CHN Energy's Changyuan Power sets a 6.5% equity IRR hurdle for independent shared storage.
• View: returns hinge on provincial capacity mechanisms; lenders will stay conservative on projects in provinces without capacity prices.

• By the article's partial count, provinces with capacity prices or compensation in place as of October 2026 mainly include Gansu, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia.

Sources: Sina Finance (深眸财经)

Eku Energy's 250 MW/500 MWh Williamsdale battery goes commercial in Canberra, starting 15-year revenue share with ACT government

Macquarie-owned Eku Energy and the ACT government officially switched on the Williamsdale BESS (250 MW/500 MWh), the territory's biggest battery, on 5 November; Eku says it is fully commissioned and operating commercially, delivered on time and on budget. It now starts a 15-year revenue share agreement with the ACT government, which helped underwrite construction and receives 50% of the battery's revenue once operating.

• Located in Tuggeranong with 136 Tesla Megapack 2 XL units; construction started November 2024 and operation began October 2026.
• Eku's third delivered big battery in Australia (after Hazelwood 150 MW/150 MWh and Rangebank 200 MW/400 MWh) and the first it developed with 100% equity ownership.

• Revenue model: 15-year revenue share (50%) with the ACT government; lenders not named in the source (not publicly disclosed).
• View: a government revenue share trades upside for underwriting, improving revenue certainty and supporting debt sizing.

• The ACT government underwrote construction through a 15-year revenue share agreement and receives 50% of revenue; the ACT targets net zero by 2045.

Sources: RenewEconomy