New energy storage is the core pillar of the future energy system

The 2025 World Energy Storage Conference was recently held in Ningde, Fujian. Co-hosted by the Equipment Industry Development Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Fujian Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ningde Municipal People's Government, the conference, themed "A New Era of Energy Storage, a Zero-Carbon Future," released six important research findings, including the "China Long-Duration Energy Storage Industry Blue Book" and the "15th Five-Year Plan: New Energy Storage Development Trends." Experts, scholars, industry leaders, and corporate representatives from around the world in the energy storage field believe that new energy storage, driven by technological innovation and based on safety assurance, will play an increasingly important role in furthering the global energy transition.

Currently, the global energy structure is undergoing an accelerated transformation, with the power system undergoing a historic transition from a fossil fuel-based system to one dominated by new energy. The role of new energy storage (excluding pumped hydro storage, energy storage technologies primarily focused on power output) is being reshaped: no longer simply a supporting component of new energy, but a core pillar of the future energy system. By the end of 2024, my country's newly installed new energy storage capacity will exceed 100 million kilowatt-hours, with energy storage battery and system shipments accounting for over 90% and 70% of the global market, respectively. China boasts the world's most complete, largest, and most technologically advanced energy storage industry chain, becoming the world's largest new energy storage market.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, my country's new energy storage resource security and industrial capacity will significantly increase, driving investment exceeding 300 billion yuan and a nearly 30-fold increase in installed capacity. This is equivalent to equipping the new power system with a "giant power bank," injecting strong momentum into the energy transition. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, new energy storage will be further integrated with all aspects of the "source, grid, and load" system, playing an even more important role in promoting large-scale renewable energy development and consumption, ensuring the safe and stable operation of the power system, and supporting flexible and low-carbon energy use for users.

However, new energy storage also stands at the crossroads of a "triple turning point." On the technical level, the transition from short-term to long-term storage is underway, with flow batteries and solid-state batteries becoming key breakthroughs. On the market level, the shift from policy-driven to market-driven approaches is underway, with energy storage's business model and revenue structure urgently in need of restructuring. On the industrial level, the shift from single-point breakthroughs to clustered development is underway. Experts at the conference believe that only by promoting policy coordination, market mechanism innovation, and multi-stakeholder collaboration, accelerating global energy storage deployment and improving system resilience, can we promote the large-scale application of renewable energy, reshape the global energy landscape, and achieve a zero-carbon future.

New Energy Storage

Using Unprecedented Development Opportunities

The energy storage industry is poised for a shift from quantity to quality. The scale of storage will determine the quality of new energy development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, impacting the safe operation of the power grid, the quality of energy consumption on the consumer side, and its economic efficiency.

As a key enabler and important guarantee for building a new power system, the new energy storage industry is poised for unprecedented development opportunities. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, my country's new energy storage technology innovation and industrial development have seen continuous breakthroughs, entering a stage of large-scale development. The National Energy Administration has launched 56 new energy storage pilot projects, covering more than ten technical approaches. New energy storage has been included in the government work report for two consecutive years. The Energy Law, implemented earlier this year, clearly defines the functions and role of new energy storage at a legal level. Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the "Special Action Plan for Large-Scale Construction of New Energy Storage (2025-2027)," proposing to achieve over 100 million kilowatts of new energy storage capacity nationwide within three years and over 180 million kilowatts by 2027, driving approximately 250 billion yuan in direct investment in these projects. This means that the development of new energy storage will accelerate in the coming years, and its importance to the power grid will become even more prominent.

A variety of favorable policies provide comprehensive institutional support for the development of the new energy storage industry. The "New Energy Storage Technology Development Roadmap (2025-2035)" released at the conference shows that national new energy storage installed capacity is expected to exceed 180 million kilowatts by 2027, 240 million kilowatts by 2030, and over 300 million kilowatts by 2035. With the rapid growth of wind and solar power installations, new energy storage will become the core engine for building a new power system.

Su Bo, former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, pointed out that new energy storage is a key technology for energy development, utilization, and security. It plays an important role in addressing energy volatility, ensuring stable operation of the power system, and promoting the development and utilization of renewable energy, and has broad market potential. He suggested strengthening overall coordination, closely integrating the promotion of energy transformation with the development and utilization of energy storage, and accelerating the development and expansion of the new energy storage manufacturing industry to provide solid support for building a new energy system and achieving the "dual carbon" goals.

Zao Yongqiang, Director of the Renewable Energy Development Center at the National Development and Reform Commission's Energy Research Institute, stated that the future power system will be highly dependent on renewable energy sources such as wind power and photovoltaic power generation. New energy storage is key to ensuring the flexibility of the power system. Through technological innovation and improved market mechanisms, it should become a vital flexible resource for the grid, power sources, and loads.

Wen Shugang, Chairman and Party Secretary of China Huaneng Group, stated that energy storage, as the regulating hub of the power system, a reservoir for new energy consumption, and a regulating valve for power economic stability, will become a key engine for reshaping the energy landscape, playing a key role in improving the friendliness of the new energy system and accelerating the construction of a new power system.

Hu Ming, Party Secretary and General Manager of China Electric Power Planning and Design Institute Co., Ltd., believes that the 15th Five-Year Plan will be a period of accelerated construction of a new power system. New energy will become the primary source of incremental installed capacity, and new energy storage will shift from a focus on construction to a focus on application. The key to the future lies not in the amount of capacity built, but in the ability to establish a sustainable business model. Through capacity compensation and the synergy of power market mechanisms, a revenue system combining electricity and electricity capacity will gradually emerge. As a key component of the new power system's "source, grid, load, and storage" (power source, grid, load, and energy storage), the scale of "storage" will determine the quality of new energy development, impacting the safe operation of the power grid, the quality of energy consumption on the consumer side, and its economic efficiency.

Liu Xinyan, Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the Equipment Industry Development Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, explained that the global new energy storage market is currently dominated by China, the United States, and Europe. my country has led the world in new installed capacity for three consecutive years. New energy storage has developed a landscape dominated by lithium-ion batteries, with other technologies such as flow batteries and compressed air storage also developing in a diversified manner.

Long-duration energy storage has become a key development direction.

Without long-duration energy storage, new energy cannot truly become a mainstream energy source. Accelerating the commercialization of long-duration energy storage will eliminate bottlenecks hindering large-scale consumption of new energy and become key to promoting the high-quality development of the new energy storage industry.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global renewable energy capacity will reach 585 GW in 2024, accounting for 92.5% of new power capacity. Against the backdrop of the accelerating global energy transition, demand for long-duration energy storage (generally defined as continuous discharge for at least four hours) is showing significant growth. Its value is irreplaceable in intraday regulation, inter-week balancing, and extreme weather response scenarios, making it a key regulatory tool for ensuring the security of new power systems.

Currently, my country's long-duration energy storage market is characterized by policy-driven, state-owned enterprise-led, and diverse technologies.

Although the system investment cost of long-duration energy storage is unlikely to be lower than that of lithium batteries in the short term, its cost per kilowatt-hour is already close to that of lithium batteries, and it has significant potential for long-term cost reductions. The "China Long-Duration Energy Storage Industry Blue Book" points out that in the future, through the design of a reasonable electricity pricing system, the development of a sound electricity trading market, and the exploration of diverse financing channels, the market can develop a more scientific business model and self-sustaining capabilities.

The report "Photovoltaics and Energy Storage Empowering Energy Transition," released at the conference, points out that with the significant reduction in the cost of centralized photovoltaic and energy storage projects worldwide, "photovoltaics + energy storage" will become the most economical green energy source, capable of simultaneously meeting the needs of global electricity consumption growth and the clean energy transition. With advances in battery technology and increasing demand for long-term energy storage, lithium-ion battery energy storage is pushing towards response times of 4-8 hours, or even longer.

Zhao Tianshou, Director of the Carbon Neutral Energy Research Institute at the Southern University of Science and Technology, believes that long-term energy storage is key to solving the problem of large-scale renewable energy consumption. Long-term energy storage is needed on the grid side to smooth peaks and fill valleys, improving grid utilization; it is also needed on the load side to reduce electricity costs. Without long-term energy storage, renewable energy cannot truly become a mainstream energy source.

Hui Dong, Chief Technical Expert at the China Electric Power Research Institute, pointed out that daily regulation (8-hour energy storage) will remain the primary requirement for addressing renewable energy consumption over the next 10 years. From a practical and technical perspective, lithium batteries offer the most economical performance among various energy storage technologies. By 2035, lithium batteries will continue to be the primary source of long-term energy storage for daily regulation.

Su Chunmei, General Manager of the New Energy Business Unit of China Petroleum Corporation, believes that traditional and new energy sources are moving from a simple substitution relationship to a new stage of deep integration and coordinated development, creating a historic opportunity for the vigorous development of the new energy storage industry. Going forward, PetroChina will focus on developing energy storage technologies with oil and gas characteristics, such as compressed air energy storage in depleted oil and gas reservoirs and molten salt thermal storage. This will promote deep synergy between energy storage and its core oil and gas business and new energy businesses, creating a model for the integrated development of "oil and gas + new energy + energy storage."

Some experts believe that establishing a reasonable capacity compensation mechanism and revenue model, improving safety standards across the entire supply chain, and accelerating the commercialization of long-duration energy storage will be key to promoting the high-quality development of the new energy storage industry, helping my country move from leading in installed capacity to leading in system value, and gaining greater influence in the reshaping of the global energy landscape.

Technological breakthroughs are key to the industry's advancement to a higher level.

For new energy storage to play a role in the new power system, technological breakthroughs and industry standards are crucial foundations. They must provide direction for technological iteration and implementation, and lay a solid foundation for safety.

Zhang Li, President of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, believes that the security of new energy and the supply chain has become a core strategic concern for my country. Reducing excessive dependence on imported oil, ensuring national energy security, and vigorously developing new energy storage and clean energy application industries centered around new energy batteries are the only way forward.

Safety, stability, and adaptability are key prerequisites for new energy storage to play a role in the new power system. For the new energy storage industry to achieve high-quality development, technological breakthroughs and industry standards are crucial foundations, and building a new industrial ecosystem is crucial to driving the industry to a higher level.

The "China Long-Duration Energy Storage Industry Blue Book" points out that improvements in the efficiency of compressed air energy storage systems, the power density of all-vanadium flow batteries, the operational stability of organic flow batteries, the use of low-corrosion molten salt formulations in molten salt energy storage, and breakthroughs in low-cost hydrogen storage and transportation technologies will effectively facilitate the large-scale deployment of long-duration energy storage. The "New Energy Storage Technology Development Roadmap (2025-2035)" analyzes the global development trends of new energy storage technologies and proposes five major sub-sectors: electrochemical energy storage, mechanical energy storage, electromagnetic energy storage, thermal and cold storage, and hydrogen energy storage.

Zhao Yongqiang pointed out that energy storage technology is key to the efficient consumption of green electricity and improved power quality. To achieve sustainable development, the new energy storage industry must accelerate technological innovation, establish a comprehensive storage and dispatch planning system, improve market mechanisms, fully stimulate and guarantee market demand, scientifically and rationally regulate production capacity, optimize the market supply structure, actively expand overseas markets, and promote the construction of a "dual circulation" development pattern.

Xu Dongyang, Deputy Director of the Dual Carbon Technology Center of the CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Research Institute, said that as the proportion of installed new energy capacity continues to increase, the power grid faces challenges in inertia, voltage, and frequency support. Grid-connected energy storage, with its active support capabilities, will become an important technical path to improving power grid stability.

Wang Xiaoli, General Manager of Dalian Rongke Energy Storage Technology Development Co., Ltd., believes that the continued increase in renewable energy penetration is driving demand for long-duration, large-scale energy storage, and that flow batteries are a key technology approach in this area. my country ranks first globally in vanadium ore reserves, production capacity, output, and consumption, giving it a first-mover advantage in the development of vanadium flow batteries.

Kang Libin, Deputy General Manager of Beijing Zhongke Haina Technology Co., Ltd., noted that the sodium battery industry is entering a phase of rational development. Future efforts will see further cost reductions through increased energy density and expanded application scale, potentially enabling competition with lithium iron batteries in multiple application scenarios.

Zhu Guoqing, Second-Level Professor at China University of Mining and Technology and Deputy Director of the Nuclear Power Plant Fire Protection Expert Committee of the National Energy Administration, noted that as new renewable energy capacity surpasses thermal power, electrochemical energy storage safety has become a major industry concern. New water-based fire extinguishing agents offer efficient cooling and anti-reignition capabilities, while liquid nitrogen fire extinguishing systems are suitable for various energy storage power station scenarios.