China’s installed capacity of new energy storage has exceeded that of traditional pumped hydro for the first time, marking a key milestone in the country’s transition toward a more flexible and sustainable power system.
Source: China Energy News
China’s installed capacity of new energy storage has exceeded that of traditional pumped hydro for the first time, marking a key milestone in the country’s transition toward a more flexible and sustainable power system. The announcement was made during the 13th Energy Storage International Conference and Expo (ESIE 2025), where Chen Haisheng—Chairman of the Zhongguancun Energy Storage Industry Technology Alliance and Director of the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences—gave a comprehensive overview of developments in China’s energy storage sector. The 2025 White Paper on the Energy Storage Industry was also released at the event.
According to the white paper, global installed capacity of operational power storage projects reached 372.0 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2024, up 28.6% year-on-year. The share of pumped hydro in the global total fell below 60% for the first time, reflecting the accelerating shift toward newer storage technologies. New energy storage—including lithium-ion batteries and other advanced systems—grew rapidly to 165.4 GW globally, an 81.1% year-on-year increase, and surpassed the 100 GW mark for the first time.
Preliminary data from the CNESA DataLink Global Energy Storage Database shows that China accounted for 137.9 GW of the global total as of end-2024, representing 37.1% of the global market and a 59.9% increase from the previous year.
Within China, installed capacity of new energy storage reached 78.3 GW—overtaking pumped hydro for the first time—and accounting for 47% of the global new energy storage market. Lithium-ion batteries remain the dominant technology in this segment.
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