China aims to nearly double battery storage by 2027 in $35 billion plan

BEIJING, Sept 12 (Reuters) - China is looking to almost double its so-called new energy storage capacity to 180 gigawatts (GW) by 2027, according to an industry plan announced by authorities on Friday.

The plan, released by the state planner, National Development and Reform Commission, and the energy regulator, said the target will stimulate 250 billion yuan ($35 billion) in investment in the sector.

Current installed new energy storage capacity, which is made up mostly of lithium-ion battery storage, was 95 GW as of June, the regulator, the National Energy Administration, said in August.

China has raced ahead of its energy storage targets in the past. It initially set its new energy storage target for 2025 at 30 GW but reached that milestone two years early.

By comparison, the U.S. had 26 GW of utility-scale battery storage at the end of 2024, and its planned capacity would bring that to just over 46 GW by the end of 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Leading energy storage battery companies in China include BYD 002594.SZ, which is also the country's biggest electric vehicle maker, and CATL 300750.SZ.

New energy storage refers to electricity storage processes that use electrochemical, compressed air, flywheel and supercapacitor systems, but not pumped hydro, which uses water stored behind dams to generate electricity when needed.