China adds 27.1 GWh of new energy storage in Q1

China added 10.5 GW/27.1 GWh of new energy storage capacity in the first quarter of 2026, according to incomplete statistics from the CNESA DataLink Global Energy Storage Database.

The China Energy Storage Alliance, or CNESA, said newly commissioned power storage projects reached 10.9 GW during the quarter, up 41% year on year. New energy storage, which excludes conventional pumped hydro, accounted for nearly all of the additions, with power capacity rising 60% and energy capacity rising 76% from the same period in 2025.

The data show a clear shift in China’s storage market structure. Independent storage projects dominated new installations, while renewable energy co-located storage and user-side storage both declined.

Grid-side and generation-side new energy storage additions reached 9.9 GW/25.8 GWh in the first quarter, up 82% in power terms and 100% in energy terms. They accounted for 95% of newly installed power capacity during the period.

Independent storage was the main driver. CNESA recorded 8.7 GW/23.0 GWh of newly commissioned independent storage projects, up 174% in power capacity and 205% in energy capacity year on year. Independent storage accounted for 83% of new power capacity, up 34 percentage points from a year earlier.

By contrast, newly commissioned storage paired with renewable energy projects fell to 1.0 GW/2.5 GWh, down 56% in power capacity and 54% in energy capacity. Its share of new power additions dropped by 23 percentage points from the same period in 2025.

User-side storage also weakened. New user-side installations reached 545 MW/1,252 MWh in the first quarter, down 50% in power terms and 49% in energy terms. CNESA attributed the decline to narrower peak-valley power price spreads, lower project returns, the cancellation of fixed time-of-use tariffs in some regions, and the rollback of some local subsidy policies.

Commercial and industrial storage accounted for 96% of user-side power additions. Jiangsu, Sichuan, Guangdong, Anhui and Shandong were the main markets, with the top five provinces together accounting for 93% of user-side additions. Jiangsu alone represented more than half of national user-side power additions.

Regionally, new energy storage projects were commissioned in 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. Northwest China accounted for 55% of total newly installed energy capacity. Xinjiang led the national ranking with more than 5 GWh of new additions, while seven provincial-level regions, including Xinjiang, Ningxia, Jiangsu, Shandong and Inner Mongolia, each added more than 1 GWh.

The project pipeline also expanded in scale. CNESA recorded 2,919 newly filed new energy storage projects in the first quarter, totaling about 677 GWh. While the number of filings fell 9% year on year, their combined energy capacity rose 199%, suggesting that China’s storage pipeline is shifting toward larger, more centralized projects.