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 figures the National Energy Administration (NEA) presented at its quarterly press conference on 30 October.
The NEA's new-type category covers electrochemical, compressed-air and other emerging storage systems and excludes conventional pumped hydro. Measured against 135.93 GW/351.12 GWh at the end of 2025, the September total implies a net addition of roughly 31 GW/84 GWh during the first nine months of 2026.
Utilization gains accompany capacity growth
Average storage duration increased to 2.61 hours, about 0.27 hours more than a year earlier, while equivalent utilization hours over the nine-month period reached around 915, roughly 10 hours above the same period of 2025. The figures suggest that expansion is being accompanied by gradual changes in how systems are configured and used, rather than growth in installed capacity alone.
The agency attributed the build-out to government policy support, technological innovation, industrial supply chains and rising demand for flexibility in the power system.
Renewables build-out raises the need for flexibility
Combined wind and solar generating capacity exceeded 2.01 TW at the end of September, accounting for approximately 48.7% of China's total installed power capacity. As variable renewable output expands, storage is increasingly needed to absorb surplus electricity, shift generation to higher-demand periods and provide fast-response grid services.
Market structure shifts toward larger, longer-duration assets
Official figures for 2025 showed independent energy storage facilities accounting 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 dominant at approximately 96% of installed new-type capacity, although compressed-air, flow batteries and other technologies are gradually expanding their presence.
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, gradually reducing reliance on mandatory storage requirements tied to renewable projects.
2030 target and a regional dispatch example
Under the 15th Five-Year Plan for power system development, new-type storage capacity is targeted to reach 300 GW by 2030, with 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.
Such examples indicate how storage can supply substantial short-term balancing capacity in systems with high renewable penetration. For other countries expanding wind and solar generation, the deployment offers a reference point on large-scale storage manufacturing, grid integration and centralized dispatch.