China’s installed energy storage capacity reached 31.4GW by the end of 2023, the National Energy Administration said on Thursday.
In 2023, 22.6GW was installed, almost four times the figure at the end of 2022, it said. It was nearly 10 times that at the end of 2020, the body said.
Lithium-ion batteries accounted for 97.4% of China’s energy storage capacity at the end of 2023. Other technologies, such as compressed air, are developing rapidly, NEA official Bian Guangqi, said at a press conference on Thursday.
The NEA said in July that China was introducing more flexible power transmission arrangements to its national grid. This would help avoid a repeat of the power cuts that badly affected parts of the country last year.
Weather-dependent hydropower is expected to remain the primary power source in Sichuan and neighbouring Yunnan, according to Reuters. It said the Sichuan provincial government forecast it would account for more than 77% of the province’s installed generation capacity in 2025.
But China has extensively developed energy storage capabilities in 2023, according to NEA officials. In China, that overwhelmingly comprises lithium-ion battery storage. That is in contrast with older pumped-hydro storage.
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