China’s operational new-type energy storage capacity reached 167 GW/435 GWh at the end of September 2026, up 63% year on year, according to figures released by the National Energy Administration (NEA) on October 30.

The data were presented at the agency’s quarterly press conference on national energy developments. China’s new-type energy storage category covers electrochemical, compressed-air and other emerging storage systems, but excludes conventional pumped hydro.

Compared with 135.93 GW/351.12 GWh at the end of 2025, the latest figures indicate a net capacity increase of approximately 31 GW/84 GWh during the first nine months of 2026.

The NEA reported that average storage duration had increased to 2.61 hours, up approximately 0.27 hours year on year. Equivalent utilization hours reached around 915 hours during the nine-month period, an increase of approximately 10 hours compared with the same period of 2025.

The improvements suggest that China’s storage expansion is being accompanied by gradual changes in system configuration and utilization, rather than growth in installed capacity alone.

According to the NEA, the rapid development of new-type storage has been supported by government policies, technological innovation, industrial supply chains and growing demand for flexibility in the power system.

China’s combined wind and solar generating capacity exceeded 2.01 TW at the end of September, accounting for approximately 48.7% of total installed power capacity. As variable renewable generation expands, storage is increasingly needed to absorb surplus electricity, shift generation to higher-demand periods and provide fast-response grid services.

The structure of China’s storage market is also changing. Official figures for 2025 showed that independent energy storage facilities accounted for 51.2% of cumulative new-type storage installations. Projects rated at 100 MW or above represented 72% of installed capacity, while systems with durations of at least four hours accounted for 27.6%.

Lithium-ion batteries remained the dominant technology, representing approximately 96% of installed new-type storage capacity, although compressed-air, flow batteries and other technologies are gradually expanding their presence.

Market reforms are expected to reinforce these trends. China has been developing arrangements allowing independent storage operators to earn revenues from electricity trading, ancillary services and capacity remuneration, gradually reducing reliance on mandatory storage requirements associated with renewable projects.

Under the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan for power system development, new-type energy storage capacity is targeted to reach 300 GW by 2030, with greater emphasis on longer-duration systems, grid-forming capabilities and improved operational efficiency.

The growing contribution of storage is already visible in renewable-rich regional grids. In western Inner Mongolia, the grid operator reported 20.23 GW/70.47 GWh of operational storage capacity in October. During emergency dispatch operations, storage supplied up to 12.25 GW, equivalent to 33% of the grid’s electricity demand at the time.

Such examples illustrate how storage can provide substantial short-term balancing capacity in electricity systems with high renewable penetration. For other countries expanding wind and solar generation, China’s deployment offers experience in large-scale storage manufacturing, grid integration and centralized dispatch.

From ESS News