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 the National Energy Administration (NEA) released on October 30.
The figures were presented at the NEA’s quarterly press conference on national energy development. China’s new-type storage category covers electrochemical, compressed-air and other emerging systems, but excludes conventional pumped hydro.
At the end of 2025, capacity stood at 135.93 GW/351.12 GWh. The latest data therefore indicate a net increase of about 31 GW/84 GWh in the first nine months of 2026.
Longer duration, higher use
Average storage duration rose to 2.61 hours, about 0.27 hours more than a year earlier. Equivalent utilization reached around 915 hours over the nine-month period, an increase of roughly 10 hours from the same period in 2025.
The NEA attributed rapid development to government policies, technological innovation, industrial supply chains and growing demand for flexibility in the power system. The utilization and duration figures suggest that deployment is also being accompanied by gradual changes in system configuration and operation, rather than growth in installed capacity alone.
Renewables raise the need for flexibility
China’s combined wind and solar generating capacity exceeded 2.01 TW at the end of September, accounting for about 48.7% of total installed power capacity. As variable renewable output expands, storage is increasingly needed to absorb surplus electricity, shift generation to periods of higher demand and provide fast-response grid services.
The structure of the market is changing as well. Official 2025 figures showed that independent storage facilities accounted for 51.2% of cumulative new-type 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 about 96% of installed new-type storage capacity. Compressed-air, flow batteries and other technologies are gradually expanding their presence, although they remain a small share.
Market reforms are expected to reinforce these trends. China has been developing arrangements that allow independent storage operators to earn revenue from electricity trading, ancillary services and capacity remuneration. The approach gradually reduces reliance on mandatory storage requirements linked to renewable projects.
2030 target and grid support
Under the 15th Five-Year Plan for power system development, new-type storage capacity is targeted to reach 300 GW by 2030. The plan places greater emphasis on longer-duration systems, grid-forming capabilities and improved operational efficiency.
Storage’s contribution 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.
The example illustrates how storage can provide substantial short-term balancing capacity in 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.