China’s operational new-type energy storage capacity reached 167 GW/435 GWh at the end of September 2026, 63% higher than a year earlier, according to National Energy Administration (NEA) figures released on Oct. 30. The category covers electrochemical, compressed-air and other emerging storage systems, but excludes conventional pumped hydro.
The total compares with 135.93 GW/351.12 GWh at the end of 2025, implying a net increase of about 31 GW/84 GWh during the first nine months of 2026. Average storage duration rose to 2.61 hours, up about 0.27 hours year on year, while equivalent utilization reached around 915 hours in the nine-month period, about 10 hours more than in the same period of 2025.
Utilization gains accompany capacity growth
The NEA attributed the expansion to government policies, technological innovation, industrial supply chains and growing demand for flexibility in the power system. At the end of September, China’s combined wind and solar generating capacity exceeded 2.01 TW and accounted for about 48.7% of total installed power capacity. As variable renewable output grows, storage is increasingly used to absorb surplus electricity, shift generation toward higher-demand periods and provide fast-response grid services.
Independent projects and longer durations gain share
Official 2025 figures showed that independent energy storage facilities made up 51.2% of cumulative new-type storage installations. Projects rated at 100 MW or above represented 72% of installed capacity, and systems with durations of at least four hours accounted for 27.6%. Lithium-ion batteries remained dominant at about 96% of installed new-type storage capacity, while compressed-air, flow-battery and other technologies continued to expand their presence.
Market reforms are expected to reinforce these shifts. China has been developing arrangements that allow independent storage operators to earn revenue from electricity trading, ancillary services and capacity remuneration, gradually reducing reliance on mandatory storage requirements linked to renewable projects.
2030 target and a regional balancing example
Under the 15th Five-Year Plan for power system development, China targets 300 GW of new-type storage by 2030, with greater emphasis on longer-duration systems, grid-forming capabilities and improved operational efficiency.
The growing role 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, storage supplied up to 12.25 GW, equivalent to 33% of the grid’s electricity demand at the time. Such cases illustrate 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.