China's operational new-type energy storage capacity reached 167 GW/435 GWh at the end of September 2026, a 63% increase from a year earlier, according to figures the National Energy Administration released on Oct. 30.
The figures were presented at the NEA's quarterly press conference on national energy development. China's new-type category includes electrochemical, compressed-air and other emerging storage systems, but excludes conventional pumped hydropower.
At the end of 2025, capacity stood at 135.93 GW/351.12 GWh. The latest total therefore represents a net increase of about 31 GW/84 GWh during the first nine months of 2026.
Utilization and system configuration also changed. Average storage duration rose to 2.61 hours, about 0.27 hours more than a year earlier. Equivalent utilization reached about 915 hours in the nine-month period, roughly 10 hours above the same period in 2025.
The NEA said the expansion has been supported by government policies, technological innovation, industrial supply chains and growing demand for flexibility in the power system. The agency's figures suggest that China's storage growth is being accompanied by gradual changes in how systems are configured and used, rather than by installed capacity alone.
Storage is taking on a larger role as variable renewable capacity expands. 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 is increasingly needed to absorb surplus electricity, shift generation to periods of higher demand and provide fast-response grid services.
Market structure is shifting 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 made up 27.6%.
Lithium-ion batteries remained the dominant technology, accounting for about 96% of installed new-type storage capacity. Compressed-air, flow batteries and other technologies are gradually expanding their share.
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, gradually reducing reliance on mandatory storage requirements tied to renewable projects.
Under its 15th Five-Year Plan for power system development, China targets 300 GW of new-type storage capacity by 2030. The plan places greater emphasis on longer-duration systems, grid-forming capabilities and improved operational efficiency.
The effect 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, equal to 33% of the grid's electricity demand at the time.
Such cases show 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.