Industry Insight |The development of energy storage batteries worldwide has entered a fast-track period

  With the advent of the "electrification" era, batteries that were once bulky and costly have become increasingly lightweight and affordable, driven by continuous technological innovation and widespread market adoption. Energy storage batteries have also begun to play an increasingly vital role in global power systems, even evolving into "all-purpose tools" capable of delivering multiple critical services simultaneously. In the foreseeable future, the deployment of energy storage batteries will continue to accelerate, with the growth rate hinging on factors such as regulatory policies, grid connection requirements, and licensing and approval timelines.

Shorter Construction Cycles Accelerate the Rollout of Large-Scale Energy Storage
  Relatively short construction and development cycles are particularly conducive to the rapid deployment of large-scale batteries. In many countries and regions, large-scale energy storage battery projects generally take only around two years to complete development and commence operation, effectively enabling national power systems to secure flexible power supplies expeditiously. The latest data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that the global energy storage battery market saw accelerated growth in 2025, with particularly robust expansion in countries including Australia and Saudi Arabia. For nations that have long led deployment efforts, energy storage batteries have played a pivotal role in continuously balancing power supply and demand.

108 Gigawatts of New Capacity Added, Global Installations Hit Record Highs
  In 2025, the growth of global energy storage battery capacity set a new record, with newly installed capacity reaching 108 gigawatts for the full year, representing an approximately 40% increase from 2024 and surpassing the previous all-time high of 107 gigawatts. Of this total, newly installed utility-scale energy storage battery capacity stood at roughly 87 gigawatts, accounting for about 80% of global total deployments. Installations of customer-sited self-built energy storage batteries also expanded rapidly, especially in countries and regions with high electricity prices and strong policy support. Around 24 gigawatts of new utility-scale energy storage battery projects in 2025 were directly paired with renewable energy developments, a scale largely consistent with that recorded in 2024.

Market volumes surge in multiple regions with continuous expansion of deployment scale
  The global deployment scale of energy storage batteries expanded significantly in 2025. In Australia, driven by local government incentives, newly installed capacity reached nearly 8 gigawatts, almost nine times that of 2024. Utility-scale energy storage battery projects jumped from less than 1 gigawatt in 2024 to approximately 4.2 gigawatts in 2025, while behind-the-meter energy storage battery projects rose from around 0.2 gigawatts to roughly 3.4 gigawatts. At present, energy storage batteries account for about 18% of Australia’s installed dispatchable power generation capacity. New energy storage installations in the Middle East are almost entirely fueled by Saudi Arabia. In 2025, Saudi Arabia’s newly installed energy storage battery capacity exceeded 3 gigawatts, more than three times the figure for 2024. With the rapid advancement of large-scale projects, energy storage batteries have become a critical flexible power source. In Chile, newly installed energy storage battery capacity hit nearly 1 gigawatt, and most utility-scale energy storage battery projects are deployed to store surplus solar power and meet the country’s peak electricity demand.

China, the US and Europe take the lead, with utility-scale energy storage remaining the mainstay
  In terms of the world’s total installed energy storage battery capacity, China, the United States and Europe maintain leading positions. In 2025, China’s newly installed energy storage battery capacity surpassed 63 gigawatts, an increase of roughly one-third compared with 2024. This included around 55 gigawatts of utility-scale energy storage battery projects and about 8 gigawatts of behind-the-meter energy storage battery projects. The United States added 19 gigawatts of new energy storage battery capacity in 2025, representing a year-on-year growth of approximately 60%, consisting of over 16 gigawatts of utility-scale energy storage battery projects and nearly 3 gigawatts of behind-the-meter ones. Europe recorded about 6.2 gigawatts of newly installed energy storage battery capacity in 2025, slightly lower than the 2024 level, yet new installations of utility-scale energy storage battery projects reached roughly 4.6 gigawatts.

Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement Unlock the Application Potential of Energy Storage
  Flexible power supply is emerging as a core driving force behind the growth of the energy storage battery industry. Driven by technological innovation, market competition and economies of scale, the cost of energy storage batteries fell by more than 90% between 2010 and 2025. Thanks to this sharp cost decline, energy storage batteries have become a critical guarantee for short-term flexibility within global power systems. They boast an extremely wide range of applications, capable of delivering diverse grid support services, while helping shift power loads, secure adequate system capacity and manage transmission congestion. Fueled by technological advances, the energy discharge efficiency of energy storage batteries has risen from roughly 40% in 2015 to over 90% in 2025. As a result, energy storage batteries are increasingly deployed to shift large volumes of power within short timeframes and deliver rapid power supply to the grid during supply shortages.
  As energy storage battery installations shift toward energy shifting and grid integration of renewable energy, the duration of utility-scale energy storage batteries keeps extending. In 2025, the average storage duration of commissioned energy storage battery projects reached 3 hours, with the share of projects offering storage durations of 4 hours or longer continuing to climb.

Faster Delivery Creates Short-Term Flexibility Advantages
  Short delivery cycles enable the rapid rollout of energy storage batteries. Featuring a modular design and low requirements for supporting infrastructure, energy storage battery projects can in theory be completed in less than one year. At present, the average construction cycle for utility-scale energy storage battery projects stands at around 275 days, close to the average 220 days required for photovoltaic projects, and far shorter than the over 2 years needed for natural gas power generation projects and the over 6 years for nuclear power projects.

Peak Shaving and Valley Filling: Energy Storage Participates in Power System Balancing
  With the expansion of energy storage battery deployment scale and the extension of energy storage duration, energy storage batteries are gradually playing a role in short-term ramp regulation and demand balancing within power systems by charging batteries during periods of power surplus and discharging power from batteries during peak electricity demand periods. In California, the United States, installed solar power capacity has exceeded 55 gigawatts, surpassing the state's peak load. Meanwhile, the state's battery storage capacity has grown from less than 1 gigawatt in 2019 to more than 17 gigawatts at present, enabling sufficient electric energy to be stored and discharged via batteries. In March 2026, energy storage batteries once supplied over 40% of the state's electricity, effectively balancing power system loads. In South Australia, Australia, energy storage batteries guarantee power supply during peak consumption hours, delivering more than 30% of electricity supply during the peak demand periods in February and March. In the United Kingdom, amid an increasingly diversified power mix, energy storage batteries complement gas-fired power generation, hydropower and other power sources, and are exerting an ever-growing influence in power supply balancing mechanisms.

Policies, grid connection and approvals determine deployment speed
  Despite the robust global growth momentum of the energy storage battery industry, regulatory frameworks and policy trends still play a central role in shaping the industrial landscape. The construction timeline of energy storage battery projects is often determined more by licensing, approval, financing and grid connection procedures than by the physical construction work itself. In many countries, non-construction phases usually account for more than half of a project’s total cycle. For instance, energy storage battery projects in Europe, the United States and Japan generally take two to two and a half years to be put into operation.
  Even so, energy storage batteries can be deployed faster than other solutions that boost the supply flexibility of power systems, such as pumped hydro storage or gas power generation. They hold unique competitive advantages, especially for power systems requiring additional flexibility in the short term.
  Project approval and commissioning are carried out with higher efficiency in China and some countries across the Middle East.