February 13, 2020: Wood Mackenzie forecast on February 12 that the Covid-19 viral outbreak would hit China’s battery production, causing a drop of 10% on the research group’s previous estimates.

China’s attempt to minimize human-to-human transmission has resulted in delayed production at several battery cell factories, including Tesla’s gigafactory in Shanghai.

Le Xu, Wood Mackenzie senior research analyst, said: “The restrictions on labour movement will affect industries in provinces that were expected, before the virus outbreak, to contribute 162GWh of battery cell production in 2020.”

Xu said the reduction in cell supply could slow the cost decline of energy storage systems, “moreover, China’s BYD is a key supplier to UK storage markets, so its production loss in the first quarter could hurt British developers.”

Australia, which has a pipeline of energy storage projects, would also be affected.

On February 13 several media reported dramatic increases in the number of deaths caused by the virus, with 242 more in Hubei Province, where it is believed to have started, and a further 14,480 new cases. The total number of fatalities had passed 1,600 as we were going to press, with almost 50,000 people infected.

The Communist Party leader at the centre of the outbreak has been sacked, Chinese state media said.