Lithium Miners: Energy Storage Demand Growing 40% Annually, Replacing EVs as Primary Growth Driver
Claire Weston
Top lithium producers say battery-storage demand is expanding at 40% a year, replacing slowing EV sales as the industry's core growth engine — whether this new narrative can stabilize lithium prices remains the key test.
Storage up 40% a year — where does that number come from?
Fastmarkets CEO Raju Daswani gave the figure at the Global Lithium, Battery & Critical Materials Conference in Las Vegas: lithium demand for storage is growing at 40% annually.
He declared that "the period of market overcorrection is over" and that storage has become the primary driver of lithium market growth.
This means → the lithium industry's growth story is re-anchoring: from "selling to automakers" to "selling to the grid."
Why is storage demand more stable than EVs?
Daswani's assessment: storage demand forms a "more robust foundation" because it is not subject to the sharp swings of consumer sentiment and subsidy policy that drive EV sales.
In plain terms = EV demand rises and falls with car-buyer mood and government incentives; storage is grid infrastructure spending — steadier by nature.
Albemarle, one of the world's largest lithium producers, confirmed the pattern: its storage business is growing steadily, in contrast to the uneven performance of EV demand.
How are the top miners positioning around this logic?
Albemarle Chief Commercial Officer Eric Norris noted that "grid-scale storage is more evenly distributed globally" — a meaningful demand driver.
This reflects a key structural advantage of storage demand: geographic diversification, unlike EV demand, which depends heavily on policy rhythms in a single market such as China or Europe.
Rio Tinto lithium head Jérôme Pécresse forecast that "lithium demand will become more balanced between EVs and storage over the next two years." Rio Tinto's lithium unit is expected to outgrow its copper and iron-ore divisions.
Can this actually stabilize lithium prices?
Storage demand is fast-growing, geographically dispersed, and less volatile — three traits that structurally differentiate it from EV demand.
But the critical question remains unanswered: can 40% growth on a still-small base fill the gap left by slowing EV uptake?
In plain terms = storage is growing fast, but starts from a smaller base; if EV demand keeps sliding, whether storage alone can support lithium prices is a question the industry itself has not yet answered.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.