China's operational new-type energy storage capacity reached 167 GW/435 GWh at the end of September 2026, up 63% year on year, according to National Energy Administration (NEA) figures. That compares with 135.93 GW/351.12 GWh at the end of 2025, a net increase of about 31 GW/84 GWh during the first nine months of the year.
The new-type category covers electrochemical, compressed-air and other emerging storage systems, but excludes conventional pumped hydro. The figures were presented at the NEA's quarterly press conference on national energy development.
Utilization rises alongside capacity
Average storage duration increased to 2.61 hours, about 0.27 hours more than a year earlier. Equivalent utilization reached around 915 hours over the nine months, roughly 10 hours above the same period in 2025. The figures suggest that China's storage expansion is being accompanied by gradual changes in system configuration and use, not just growth in installed capacity.
The NEA attributed the rapid development of new-type storage to government policies, technological innovation, industrial supply chains and growing demand for flexibility in the power system. By the end of September, combined wind and solar generating capacity had exceeded 2.01 TW and accounted for about 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.
Independent and longer-duration projects gain ground
Official 2025 figures show how the market is structured. Independent storage facilities accounted for 51.2% of cumulative new-type storage installations. Projects rated at 100 MW or above represented 72% of installed capacity, while systems with durations of at least four hours accounted for 27.6%. Lithium-ion batteries remained dominant at about 96% of installed new-type capacity, although compressed-air, flow batteries and other technologies are gradually expanding their presence.
China is also 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 associated with renewable projects. Market reforms are expected to reinforce the shift toward larger, longer-duration and more commercially driven projects.
2030 target and a provincial 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 contribution 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.
The example shows how storage can provide substantial short-term balancing capacity in systems with high renewable penetration. For other countries expanding wind and solar, China's build-out provides a large-scale case for studying storage manufacturing, grid integration and centralized dispatch.