China had 167 GW/435 GWh of operational new-type energy storage at the end of September 2026, 63% more than a year earlier, according to figures the National Energy Administration (NEA) presented at its quarterly press conference on national energy developments on 30 October.
The NEA's new-type category takes in electrochemical batteries, compressed-air systems and other emerging technologies, but leaves out conventional pumped hydro.
Measured against the 135.93 GW/351.12 GWh recorded at the end of 2025, the latest numbers imply a net addition of about 31 GW/84 GWh during the first nine months of 2026.
Longer duration, more use
Average storage duration increased to 2.61 hours, roughly 0.27 hours more than a year earlier, while equivalent utilization hours over the nine-month period came to about 915, around 10 hours above the same stretch of 2025.
The administration presented those shifts as evidence that the fleet's expansion is being matched by gradual changes in system configuration and operation, rather than by growth in installed capacity alone.
According to the NEA, policy support, technological innovation, industrial supply chains and rising demand for flexibility in the power system have all underpinned the rapid deployment of new-type storage.
The surrounding generation mix explains part of that demand. Combined wind and solar capacity passed 2.01 TW at the end of September, equal to about 48.7% of China's total installed power capacity. As variable output grows, storage is increasingly called on to absorb surplus electricity, move generation to periods of higher demand and deliver fast-response grid services.
Market structure and targets
Official figures for 2025 showed independent storage facilities accounting for 51.2% of cumulative new-type installations. Projects rated at 100 MW or more made up 72% of installed capacity, and systems with durations of at least four hours accounted for 27.6%.
Lithium-ion batteries remain dominant at about 96% of installed new-type capacity, though compressed-air, flow batteries and other technologies are slowly gaining ground.
Market reforms are expected to reinforce these patterns. China has been putting in place arrangements that let independent storage operators earn revenue from electricity trading, ancillary services and capacity remuneration, reducing their reliance on the mandatory storage obligations attached to renewable projects.
Under the power system development plan tied to the country's 15th Five-Year Plan, new-type storage capacity is targeted at 300 GW by 2030, with more weight given to longer-duration systems, grid-forming capability and operational efficiency.
Storage's growing role is already visible in regional grids with heavy renewable shares. In western Inner Mongolia, the grid operator reported 20.23 GW/70.47 GWh of operational storage in October; during emergency dispatch, storage delivered as much as 12.25 GW, equal to 33% of the grid's electricity demand at that moment.
Such cases show how storage can supply substantial short-term balancing capacity in systems with high renewable penetration. For other countries scaling up wind and solar, China's deployment offers experience in large-scale storage manufacturing, grid integration and centralized dispatch, according to the report.