Hithium 2025 ESG Report: EcoVadis Gold on First Assessment

Hithium’s 2025 ESG report runs to 121 pages. It covers the year in which the company received its first EcoVadis rating, had its climate targets validated by SBTi, and sold 56.6 GWh of energy storage batteries. This overview summarises the main figures.

1. Ratings

Hithium received an EcoVadis Gold rating in October 2025, with a score of 80, in its first EcoVadis assessment. The report describes this as the highest score recorded among Chinese energy storage companies as of the end of 2025.

In April 2025 Hithium received a B in CDP’s climate change questionnaire. It also took part in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment but does not publish the result. The report discloses no MSCI or Sustainalytics rating.

2. Emissions and climate targets

Hithium’s direct (Scope 1) emissions rose 28 % in 2025 to about 102,000 tonnes of CO2e. Value-chain (Scope 3) emissions more than doubled, from 1.8 million to 4.1 million tonnes, almost all of it upstream in the supply chain.

Measured per GWh, Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions fell while Scope 3 rose:

• Scope 1: from 2,381 to 1,536 tonnes per GWh
• Scope 2: from 7,336 to 5,081 tonnes per GWh
• Scope 3: from 52,721 to 60,751 tonnes per GWh

In 2025 the Science Based Targets initiative validated two Hithium targets, both measured against 2023:

• cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 58.8 % by 2034
• cut Scope 3 emissions per unit of product by 63.8 % by 2034

The report measures its 2025 progress by intensity: Scope 1 and 2 emissions per unit were 39 % below 2023. It states an aim of carbon neutrality in the group’s operations but gives no target year.

Emissions

3. Energy, water and waste

Energy use rose 78 % to 1,725 GWh. Renewables supplied 508 GWh, which was 79 % of electricity use and 29 % of total energy use. In 2024 renewables made up 47 % of total energy use.

The Xiamen base used 100 % green electricity in 2025, through on-site solar and green electricity certificates. A solar and storage project there, including a 12 MW / 24 MWh battery system, went into operation in December 2025.

Of the 123,745 tonnes of waste generated, 97.7 % was recycled. No non-hazardous waste went to landfill in any year from 2022 to 2025. Wastewater discharge fell from 327,685 to 55,927 tonnes.

The report lists CNY 800 million invested in the company’s battery recycling business.

4. People and safety

Hithium ended 2025 with 8,722 full-time employees, 14 % more than a year earlier, and hired 3,072 people during the year. More than half of its general employees are under 30.

Women make up 24 % of the workforce and 13 % of senior management (5 of 38 senior managers). The mean gender pay gap is 15 % and the median 5 %. Average training time rose from 4 to 14 hours per employee.

There were no work-related fatalities among employees or contractors in 2025. The report records 17 recordable injuries and a lost-time injury rate of 0.77 per million hours worked.

5. Supply chain

Hithium works with 2,550 suppliers, 2,250 of them in mainland China.

In 2025 it carried out ESG due diligence on 112 suppliers, covering about 68 % of its procurement spend. Its target for the year was 70 %. Forty suppliers, selected for higher risk or larger purchase volumes, had on-site audits; 72 completed self-assessment questionnaires.

Products from 33 suppliers contained tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold, the four “conflict minerals”. Eighteen of these suppliers provided smelter reports, and no high-risk smelters were identified.

6. Governance and innovation

The seven-member board includes three independent directors and one woman. Hithium reported no confirmed corruption cases, no product recalls and no customer data breaches, and received ISO 37001 anti-bribery certification in December 2025.

The company reports more than 1,080 R&D staff and 2,609 granted patents. Products described in the report include the ∞Cell 1300Ah, a cell designed for 8-hour storage, and the ∞Power8 system (6.9 MW / 55.2 MWh), launched in December 2025.

Hithium established an international R&D centre in Hong Kong in December 2025. Its Chongqing plant joined the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse Network; the report states it is the only Lighthouse factory dedicated to energy storage batteries.

7. Business figures

Hithium sold 56.6 GWh of energy storage batteries and 10.1 GWh of energy storage systems in 2025. Batteries made up 64.5 % of revenue, systems 33.1 % and battery materials 2.4 %.

The report gives growth rates for 2023 to 2025 rather than totals: battery shipments grew 104 % a year, overseas shipments 661 % a year and production capacity 96 % a year.

In December 2025 Hithium signed an agreement with CRRC Zhuzhou Institute to supply at least 120 GWh of energy storage products over 2026–2030.

The ESG report does not give revenue or profit. Its GRI index refers to the 2025 annual report for economic data.

8. Data notes

• Scope 2. The 338,889-tonne figure is labelled market-based on p.36 and location-based on pp.99 and 108. A separate market-based figure of 81,973 tonnes appears on pp.99 and 108. The report’s Scope 2 intensity and Scope 1+2 total (p.28) use the 338,889-tonne figure.
• Assurance. TÜV Rheinland’s assurance statement excludes greenhouse gas and financial data from its scope (p.119).
• Texas plant. Environmental figures and employee breakdowns exclude the Mesquite, Texas plant, which started operating in 2025 (pp.28, 62, 99, 102). The total headcount includes it.
• Calculations. Percentage changes are calculated by BESSmanufacturers from the report’s figures. Sources in the report: ratings pp.10, 13, 18; targets p.35; emissions pp.36, 108; energy, water and waste pp.37, 45, 100–101, 107; people and safety pp.102–108; supply chain pp.16, 56, 58, 101; governance pp.91, 105–106; innovation pp.6, 29, 44, 62; business pp.6, 61, 110.

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