China's new storage fleet reached 167 GW by end of September

China's operational new-type energy storage fleet reached 167 GW and 435 GWh at the end of September, up 63% from a year earlier, according to figures the National Energy Administration released on October 30. A report of the agency's quarterly briefing carried the numbers on November 5. The count excludes pumped hydro and covers electrochemical, compressed-air, and other emerging systems.

The nine-month add was about 31 GW. The agency compared the September total with 135.93 GW and 351.12 GWh at the end of 2025. That is a net increase of about 31 GW and 84 GWh in the first nine months of 2026. The report does not break that add out by province or by owner.

Batteries are running a little longer. Average storage duration rose to 2.61 hours, up about 0.27 hours from a year earlier. Equivalent utilization was about 915 hours over the nine months, about 10 hours more than the same period of 2025. The agency did not publish a revenue figure or a national price for stored power.

Wind and solar are now nearly half of installed capacity. Combined wind and solar generating capacity exceeded 2.01 TW at the end of September, about 48.7% of total installed power capacity. The report says storage is being used to absorb surplus generation, shift power to higher-demand hours, and provide fast grid services.

The 2025 mix is a separate snapshot. Official figures for 2025, not the September 2026 total, showed independent storage at 51.2% of cumulative new-type installations. Projects of 100 MW or more were 72% of installed capacity. Systems of at least four hours were 27.6%. Lithium-ion batteries were about 96% of installed new-type capacity. The report does not say those shares still hold for the 167 GW fleet.