China’s Battery Storage Capacity Doubles in 2024: A Leap in Electrochemical Energy Storage

In a report issued by the China Electricity Council (CEC) on March 29, it was revealed that China’s electrochemical energy storage industry experienced a remarkable boom in 2024. The total installed capacity more than doubled compared to the previous year. The “2024 Statistical Report on Electrochemical Energy Storage Power Stations” emphasized that rapid industry expansion, larger-scale projects, and continuous enhancements in operational efficiency and safety were the defining trends throughout the year.

Throughout 2024, a total of 515 new battery storage stations were put into operation, contributing an additional 37 GW/91 GWh of capacity. This figure is more than double the new capacity added in 2023. Significantly, 74% of this new capacity originated from utility-scale assets of over 100 MW, indicating a clear transition towards large-scale, centralized systems. By the close of 2024, China’s cumulative storage capacity had reached 62 GW/141 GWh. Stand-alone storage systems and those paired with renewable energy sources accounted for 95% of all installations.

Geographically, the deployment of energy storage projects remained concentrated. Ten provinces, namely Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Shandong, and others, were responsible for over 80% of the new capacity. Currently, seventeen provinces have a total storage capacity exceeding 1 GW, with four provinces surpassing 5 GW.

Stand-alone energy storage emerged as the primary driver of growth, with 23 GW of new capacity added. This represents a 150% year - on - year increase and accounts for 63% of the total new capacity. Large stand-alone projects achieved an average of 1.5 daily charge-discharge cycles and a utilization index of 52%.

The co-located segment in China also witnessed substantial progress. A total of 13.1 GW of renewable-paired systems were added to the energy storage portfolio. The utilization metrics of these systems improved substantially, averaging 177 full cycles per year. This is a 73 - cycle increase compared to 2023, along with a 15 - percentage - point improvement in the efficiency index.

Commercial and industrial (C&I) energy storage systems maintained stable daily operations. However, the average utilization hours decreased due to shorter discharge durations.

Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries dominated the market, constituting over 96% of the total capacity. Alternative battery chemistries, such as sodium-ion and flow batteries, held less than 4% of the market share. Two-hour storage systems were the most prevalent, accounting for 67% of the energy capacity.

Operational performance improved across the board. The average conversion efficiency increased to 88.75%, with the overall system efficiency reaching 81.71%. Newly commissioned stations demonstrated even higher performance, with some provinces like Guangxi and Hubei achieving efficiency rates exceeding 91%.

Fortunately, no major safety incidents were reported in 2024. The station availability rate reached 0.98. Nevertheless, new plants experienced 40% more unplanned outages than older ones, pointing to challenges in system integration and equipment reliability.

Despite the robust growth, performance discrepancies persisted. Large renewable-paired systems had only half the utilization rates of smaller systems, underscoring the need for more effective dispatch and control mechanisms.

Notably, technological innovation was relatively slow. New battery types and long-duration storage systems (lasting more than four hours) were scarce, with a market share of less than 1%.

Looking ahead, policy support is anticipated to fuel further growth. The CEC projects that the total storage capacity will exceed 100 GW in 2025. Moreover, greater emphasis on intelligent operations and market-based trading is expected to drive the industry’s development.