The expansion of China’s new-energy storage capacity saw a markedly slower pace of growth in 2025, reports Caixin, describing it as signaling a transition from a policy-fueled boom to a more mature phase driven by market dynamics and operational efficiency.
While the sector remains on an upward track, growth cooled to double-digit rates after installations more than doubled the previous year. According to the China Energy Storage Alliance (CNESA), the country added 66.43 gigawatts (GW) of new-energy storage capacity in 2025, equivalent to 189.48 gigawatt-hours (GWh). These figures represent year-on-year increases of 52% and 73%, respectively. In 2024, the comparable growth rates stood at 103% and 136%. By the end of 2025, China’s cumulative installed capacity reached 144.7 GW, an 85% gain over the prior year but still down from the previous year’s 130% surge.
The deceleration came after a regulatory shift in February 2025, when the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued a policy document seeking to integrate renewable energy more deeply into the broader electricity market and eliminate a prior mandate requiring renewable power projects to be paired with storage systems.