Battery Storage Grew 66% In 2025. China Now Controls Nearly Half

The constructors set the retention artillery instrumentality astatine the building tract of the 300MW/1200MWh independent power retention task successful GaoTai County, Zhangye City, Gansu Province, China, connected January 15, 2026. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

NurPhoto via Getty Images

For the past respective weeks, I person been moving my measurement done the awesome findings successful the Energy Institute’s 2026 Statistical Review of World Energy. This article concludes that series.

For readers who want to drawback up, the erstwhile installments are:

• Energy Demand Outpaced the Transition successful 2025
• Global Emissions Hit a New Record arsenic U.S. Emissions Rebounded
• The U.S. Is Both the World’s Top Oil Producer and Top Consumer
• The U.S. Supplied 93% of Global LNG Export Growth successful 2025
• Global Coal Use Hit a Record successful 2025, Even arsenic Coal Power Declined
• China Drives Global Nuclear Power Generation to a New Record
• Renewables Are Booming. So Why Aren’t Fossil Fuels Declining?

I saved artillery retention for past because it is newer and still overmuch smaller than the awesome sources of power covered successful the erstwhile articles. But measured by growth, batteries whitethorn beryllium the astir singular communicative successful the full Statistical Review.

Global artillery power retention strategy capacity reached 301.7 gigawatts successful 2025, up from 182.0 GW successful 2024. That is simply a one-year summation of astir 120 GW, aliases 65.8%.

Go backmost a decade, and the numbers go almost difficult to believe. Global installed artillery capacity stood astatine conscionable 1.9 GW successful 2015. In 10 years, it accrued by a facet of astir 158.

That useful retired to an mean yearly maturation complaint of astir 66%.

Why Batteries Are Becoming So Important

That maturation is intimately connected to different awesome inclination I discussed successful the erstwhile article: the bonzer description of star power.

Solar procreation has go inexpensive capable to deploy astatine tremendous scale, and successful 2025 it surpassed upwind successful world energy procreation for the first time. But star has an evident limitation. Its output peaks during daylight hours, and energy request doesn’t vanish erstwhile the sun goes down.

Battery retention changes that equation.

A artillery tin sorb energy erstwhile procreation is abundant, past return it to the grid later erstwhile energy is much valuable. That tin thief displacement star accumulation into evening request periods, trim curtailment, supply wave regulation, soft short-term fluctuations, and trim the request to commencement different generating resources during periods of precocious demand.

There is an important favoritism successful the Statistical Review data. Capacity present is reported successful megawatts, which measures really overmuch powerfulness the artillery fleet tin present astatine a fixed moment. It does not show america really overmuch full power the batteries tin store. That would beryllium measured successful megawatt-hours.

A 100-MW artillery tin of operating for 1 hr is rather different from a 100-MW artillery that tin run for 4 hours. So, these numbers should not beryllium interpreted arsenic a complete measurement of stored energy. But they supply an fantabulous image of really quickly artillery powerfulness capacity is being added to electrical systems.

China Accounts for Nearly Half the World’s Capacity

As pinch solar, wind, and progressively atomic power, China dominates the battery-storage numbers.

China vanished 2025 pinch astir 144.1 GW of installed artillery capacity. That represented astir 48% of the world total.

A twelvemonth earlier, China’s capacity stood astatine 79.5 GW. Thus, China added almost 64.6 GW successful a azygous year, much than half of each the caller artillery capacity installed worldwide.

The longer-term maturation is moreover much dramatic. China had only astir 115 MW of artillery capacity successful 2015. Its 2025 full was much than 1,200 times larger.

Most of China’s capacity is front-of-the-meter storage, meaning ample systems connected straight to the electrical grid alternatively than batteries installed down a customer’s meter. China’s front-of-the-meter capacity reached astir 134 GW successful 2025.

That makes consciousness successful the discourse of China’s tremendous renewable buildout. The state is simultaneously adding star panels, upwind turbines, atomic reactors, transmission, and batteries astatine a standard unmatched anyplace else.

The U.S. Is a Distant Second, but Growing Rapidly

The United States classed 2nd pinch 56.6 GW of installed artillery capacity successful 2025, representing almost 19% of the world total.

U.S. capacity accrued from 34.7 GW successful 2024, a summation of much than 21.9 GW, aliases astir 63% successful a azygous year.

The U.S. marketplace is besides much balanced betwixt utility-scale and behind-the-meter installations than China’s. Front-of-the-meter capacity reached astir 43.3 GW, while behind-the-meter capacity totaled astir 13.3 GW.

A decade ago, full U.S. artillery capacity was only astir 354 MW. The 2025 fig is astir 160 times larger.

China and the United States together now relationship for astir two-thirds of the world’s installed artillery capacity. They besides supplied much than 70% of the summation successful world capacity past year.

Europe and Australia Are Scaling Quickly

Europe collectively vanished 2025 pinch astir 57.7 GW of artillery capacity, somewhat much than the United States. Germany was Europe’s leader astatine 17.5 GW, followed by Italy astatine 9.2 GW and the United Kingdom astatine 9.0 GW.

Germany’s marketplace is notable because astir of its capacity is down the meter. Of its 17.5 GW total, astir 14.4 GW was installed connected the customer broadside of the meter.

Australia besides stands out. Battery capacity astir doubled during 2025, rising from 6.6 GW to 12.6 GW. That gave Australia much than 4% of worldwide capacity contempt having a comparatively mini population.

There are melodramatic percent increases elsewhere, though they travel from overmuch smaller bases. Saudi Arabia jumped from conscionable 35 MW successful 2024 to much than 2 GW successful 2025, mostly done caller front-of-the-meter capacity. Chile much than doubled to astir 2 GW.

Utility-Scale Storage Is Growing Fastest

The world totals besides show an absorbing displacement successful wherever batteries are being installed.

I cipher astir 224 GW of front-of-the-meter artillery capacity worldwide successful 2025, versus astir 78 GW down the meter. That intends astir three-quarters of world artillery capacity is now connected the grid broadside of the meter.

Front-of-the-meter capacity accrued by astir 72% successful 2025, compared pinch astir 51% maturation for behind-the-meter systems.

This is an important evolution. Batteries aren’t simply becoming much communal successful homes and businesses. They are progressively becoming pieces of inferior infrastructure.

Ten years ago, batteries were still often discussed arsenic thing that mightiness yet let ample quantities of intermittent renewable powerfulness to beryllium integrated into the grid. Increasingly, that is nary longer a theoretical discussion. The infrastructure is really being built.

The Big Picture

Battery retention remains mini erstwhile compared pinch the tremendous generating fleets built astir coal, earthy gas, nuclear, hydro, wind, and solar. Batteries besides aren’t an power source. They don’t make a azygous kilowatt-hour. Every portion of energy they return to the grid must first person been generated location else.

But that misses their importance.

Batteries tin alteration erstwhile energy is available. As star becomes an progressively important portion of world generation, that capacity becomes overmuch much valuable.

The 2026 Statistical Review shows a world power strategy that remains heavy limited connected fossil fuels moreover arsenic renewable procreation expands astatine bonzer rates. That hostility has been a recurring taxable passim this series.

Battery retention sits straight successful the mediate of that tension. It cannot destruct the intermittency of renewable energy, nor tin today’s batteries switch each shape of dispatchable generation. But retention tin make quickly increasing star and upwind resources much useful to the grid.

Going from 1.9 GW to much than 300 GW successful a decade suggests the marketplace has reached a very different stage. Battery retention is nary longer an research astatine the margins of the electrical grid. It is becoming portion of the grid itself.