China's new energy storage capacity has ranked first in the world for four consecutive years, with an expected cumulative total of over 370GW by 2030.

At the opening ceremony of the 14th International Energy Storage Summit held recently, Chen Haisheng, Director of the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Chairman of the Zhongguancun Energy Storage Industry Technology Alliance (CNESA), released the “Energy Storage Industry Research White Paper 2026” (hereinafter referred to as the “White Paper”). The white paper series was first released in 2011, witnessing the full process of China’s energy storage industry evolving from its early stages to large-scale development.

According to CNESA DataLink’s global energy storage database estimates (not fully comprehensive), by the end of 2025, the cumulative installed capacity of globally commissioned power energy storage projects reached 496.2GW, up 33.3% year over year. Among them, the share of pumped hydro storage fell for the first time to below 50%, down 11.5 percentage points compared with the same period of 2024. This means that the global power energy storage technology structure is accelerating toward diversified evolution. New-type energy storage has maintained a rapid growth momentum, with cumulative installed capacity reaching 278.7GW/687.5GWh, up 68.5%/79.9%.

From a domestic China perspective, by the end of 2025, China’s cumulative installed capacity of commissioned power energy storage projects was 213.3GW, accounting for 43.0% of the global market total, up 54% year over year. The cumulative installed capacity of new-type energy storage reached 144.7GW, accounting for more than two-thirds of China’s total power energy storage scale, achieving a 45-fold increase compared with the end of the “13th Five-Year Plan” period. Its share in the global new-type energy storage market first exceeded half, reaching 51.9%.

The White Paper also shows that in terms of the technology structure, lithium-ion batteries (still) remain dominant. However, with the successive commissioning of multiple hundred-megawatt-class long-duration energy storage projects, the technology structure is gradually showing a diversification trend. The share of cumulative installed capacity of lithium-ion batteries decreased slightly by 0.2 percentage points compared with the same period of 2024.

In terms of regional distribution, China, the United States, and Europe are still the top three regions by energy storage market scale worldwide and continue to lead the global energy storage industry. However, the White Paper also points out that as energy storage markets in regions such as the Middle East and Latin America rise rapidly, the global energy storage market is gradually expanding to a broader range of regions. In 2025, the combined share of new installed capacity added by the three major markets—China, the U.S., and Europe—declined by 1.5 percentage points compared with the same period of 2024, and the regional structure of the global energy storage market is continuing to move toward diversification.

Among them, China’s new-type energy storage newly added installed capacity has ranked first globally for four consecutive years. In 2025, the scale of newly commissioned new-type energy storage projects reached 66.4GW/189.5GWh, up 51.9%/72.6%, and its share in the global market reached 58.6%. Looking at domestic regional distribution, the combined installed capacity share of the TOP10 provinces by newly added installed capacity is close to 90%. Western provinces are fully leading; Inner Mongolia ranks first in both power and energy installed capacity scales nationwide.

CNESA also forecasts the scale of China’s new-type energy storage market for 2026–2030: under a conservative scenario (policy implementation, cost declines, technological improvements, and other factors not meeting expectations), the cumulative new-type energy storage scale in 2030 is expected to reach 371.2GW, and the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for 2026–2030 is 20.7%; under an ideal scenario (China’s new energy development accelerates in the coming years), the cumulative new-type energy storage scale in 2030 is expected to reach 450.7GW, and the CAGR for 2026–2030 is 25.5%.

According to statistics, in 2025, among the global market, the Top 10 Chinese companies by shipment volume of energy storage batteries (excluding batteries for base stations/data centers backup power) are, in order: CATL, EVE Energy Storage, BYD, RUILANJUN, CNJ/CHINNOVA? (中创新航), Envision AESC, Gotion High-Tech, Chuangneng New Energy, and Phihong? (鹏辉能源). The Top 5 Chinese companies by shipment volume of base station/data center batteries are, in order: Sungrow, Nandu Power, Gotion High-Tech, Phihong, and EVE Energy Storage.

In 2025, among the global market, the Top 10 companies by shipment volume of energy storage systems are, in order: Sungrow, Tesla, CRRC Zhuzhou Institute, BYD, Envision Energy, Hibo? (海博思创), Power Electronics? (中电装储能), Ronghe Yuan? (融和元储), Tianshun Energy Storage? (天合储能), and Kelu Electronics? (科陆电子).

(Source: The Paper)