China’s operational new-type energy storage capacity reached 167 GW/435 GWh at the end of September 2026, up 63% from a year earlier, according to figures the National Energy Administration (NEA) presented at its quarterly press conference on Oct. 30. The category covers electrochemical, compressed-air and other emerging storage systems, but excludes conventional pumped hydro.
At the end of 2025, the fleet stood at 135.93 GW/351.12 GWh. The latest figures therefore imply a net addition of about 31 GW/84 GWh in the first nine months of 2026.
Capacity and operation
Utilization also improved. Average storage duration rose to 2.61 hours, about 0.27 hours more than a year earlier, while equivalent utilization reached roughly 915 hours during the nine-month period, an increase of about 10 hours from the same period in 2025. The NEA data suggest that China’s build-out is being accompanied by gradual changes in system configuration and operation, not only by growth in installed capacity.
Storage is becoming more important as variable renewables expand. Combined wind and solar generating capacity exceeded 2.01 TW at the end of September, accounting for about 48.7% of China’s total installed power capacity. Storage can absorb surplus electricity, shift generation to higher-demand periods and provide fast-response grid services.
Market structure and grid role
The market’s structure is changing as well. Official 2025 figures showed that independent storage facilities made up 51.2% of cumulative new-type installations. Projects rated at 100 MW or above represented 72% of 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 batteries and other technologies continued to expand.
Policy and market reforms are expected to reinforce these trends. China has been developing arrangements that let independent storage operators earn revenue from electricity trading, ancillary services and capacity remuneration, gradually reducing reliance on mandatory storage requirements tied to renewable projects. Under the 15th Five-Year Plan for power system development, new-type storage capacity is targeted at 300 GW by 2030, with greater emphasis on longer-duration systems, grid-forming capabilities and operational efficiency.
Regional grid examples show how storage can contribute. 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, equal to 33% of the grid’s electricity demand at that time.
Those figures illustrate the short-term balancing role storage can play 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.