China's operational new-type energy storage fleet 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 national energy developments on October 30.
The category covers electrochemical, compressed-air and other emerging storage systems and excludes conventional pumped hydro. Against 135.93 GW/351.12 GWh recorded at the end of 2025, the new totals imply a net addition of roughly 31 GW/84 GWh during the first nine months of 2026.
Longer duration, more running hours
Average storage duration rose to 2.61 hours, about 0.27 hours more than a year earlier, while equivalent utilization hours reached roughly 915 over the nine-month period, an increase of about 10 hours compared with the same stretch of 2025. The NEA framed those shifts as evidence that expansion is being accompanied by changes in how systems are configured and operated, rather than by installed capacity alone.
Behind the growth, the agency cited government policy, technological innovation, industrial supply chains and rising demand for flexibility in the power system. China's combined wind and solar generating capacity topped 2.01 TW at the end of September, about 48.7% of total installed power capacity. As variable renewable output grows, storage is increasingly called on to absorb surplus electricity, shift generation to higher-demand periods and deliver fast-response grid services.
Market structure is shifting
Official 2025 figures show independent storage facilities accounting for 51.2% of cumulative new-type installations. Projects rated at 100 MW or above made up 72% of installed capacity, and systems with durations of at least four hours accounted for 27.6%. Lithium-ion batteries still dominate, representing about 96% of installed new-type capacity, while compressed-air, flow batteries and other technologies are gradually gaining ground.
Market reforms are expected to reinforce those 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 improved operational efficiency.
Storage as short-term balancing capacity
The 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, equal to 33% of the grid's electricity demand at the time.
Such cases illustrate how storage can provide 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.