China advances multi-form, multi-tiered new-type energy storage

China is advancing a multi-form and multi-tiered new-type energy storage system, with newly installed capacity of new-type energy storage reaching 66.4 gigawatts (66.4 million kilowatts) in 2025, up 51.9 percent year on year, according to officials and experts attending the 14th Energy Storage International Conference and Expo.

China has realized large-scale applications of pumped-storage hydropower and lithium-ion batteries, with its compressed-air energy storage and flow batteries entering the stage of promoted application, and the sodium-ion batteries and flywheel energy storage at the demonstration stage, said guests at the conference, which was held in Beijing from Tuesday to Friday.

"Since 2024, China has put into operation multiple 300,000-kilowatt-level compressed-air energy storage projects, 100,000-kilowatt-level flow-battery energy storage projects, and flywheel energy storage projects with megawatt-level single-unit capacity. A batch of grid-forming energy storage projects have been implemented, and several innovative technical routes such as gravity energy storage and compressed-carbon-dioxide energy storage have been accelerated in applications. So China's new-type energy storage is showing a multi-form development trend," said Liu Deshun, chief engineer of the National Energy Administration.

The energy storage industry is becoming a pillar for global energy transition.

According to data released by CNESA Data Link on Tuesday, the world's newly installed capacity of new-type energy storage in 2025 was 113.3 gigawatts, up 52.9 percent year on year.

China Energy Storage Alliance (CNESA) is China's first and largest non-profit organization dedicated to promoting energy storage industry development, according to its website.

"By the end of 2025, the cumulative installed capacity of electric power storage in operation worldwide was 496.2 gigawatts, with the proportion of cumulative installed capacity of pumped-storage hydropower falling below 50 percent for the first time. The Middle East, Latin America, emerging markets in Asia and Africa are speeding up their rise and have become new drivers of global energy storage growth," said Chen Haisheng, director of the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

China advances multi-form, multi-tiered new-type energy storage

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Thursday presided over a State Council executive meeting that studied work on building a unified national market and reviewed and approved a plan for the development of a modern emergency response system during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).

Noting that building a unified national market is essential to advancing high-quality development, the meeting called for deepening institutional frameworks in areas such as property rights protection, market access, fair competition, social credit and market exit mechanisms.

The meeting also urged efforts to advance high-standard connectivity of market infrastructure to facilitate smooth economic circulation and effectively reduce logistics costs across society.

Emergency management is critical to protecting people's lives and property, the meeting said. It called for accelerating the development of a modern emergency response system, deepening reform and innovation in emergency management, and improving coordinated response mechanisms.

Efforts should be made to strengthen risk prevention at the source, enhance monitoring, forecasting and early warning, and accelerate a shift in governance toward proactive prevention, according to the meeting.

A draft revision of the Law on the People's Bank of China was also discussed and approved in principle at the meeting, which decided to submit the draft to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation.

Chinese premier chairs State Council executive meeting