The “vast majority” of issues identified in Intertek CEA’s 2025 audits of battery storage manufacturing quality were system-level defects that could pose risks to projects if undetected and unresolved.
Intertek CEA (formerly Clean Energy Associates) has just published the 2026 edition of its Global Energy Storage Manufacturing Quality Report, outlining key risks and defect trends based on the market intelligence and technical consultancy firm’s latest inspection data.
The headline takeaway remains the same as in the 2025 edition: only a small percentage of defects were found in battery cells and modules, while components such as battery management systems (BMS), thermal management, and integration quality accounted for around three-quarters of total defects.
In fact, the percentage went up slightly from 72% in last year’s report—on 2024 factory inspections—to 75% system-level issues found in 2025.
According to Intertek CEA, the main contributors to the high number of system-level issues include the highly manual and labour-intensive nature of most battery energy storage system (BESS) integration processes and rapid product iteration that prevents the maturation of production techniques.
