CIES2025 has officially released the 2025 White Paper on the Development of China’s New Energy Storage Industry. The 15th China International Energy Storage Conference and Exhibition was grandly opened on March 23, 2025, at the Hangzhou International Expo Center. The theme of the conference is “Green, Digital, Integrated, and Innovative.” During the event, several significant research findings were unveiled, including the 2025 White Paper on the Development of China’s New Energy Storage Industry, the 2025 White Paper on Industrial Green Microgrid Development, the 2025 Report on Project Bidding and Price Analysis for China’s New Energy Storage Industry, and the 2025 Analysis Report on Typical Applications and Development Trends of New Energy Storage.
The 2025 White Paper on the Development of China’s New Energy Storage Industry (hereinafter referred to as “the Report”) is edited by the China Chemical and Physical Power Industry Association and drafted by the Energy Storage Application Subcommittee of the Association, with academic support from the Expert Committee of the Subcommittee. The Report analyzes the development trends of the new energy storage industry in 2025 from ten perspectives: market analysis, policy analysis, standardization, technical analysis, cost analysis, production capacity, safety, typical case studies, future market forecasts, and conclusions and outlook.
1. Market Analysis
The Report outlines the overall landscape of China’s new energy storage market for 2024, indicating that the cumulative installed capacity is expected to reach approximately 74.66 GW, marking a year-on-year increase of 131.9%. Additionally, the new installed capacity is projected at 42.46 GW, which reflects a year-on-year growth of 99.2%, with total investments exceeding 239.9 billion yuan.
Currently, lithium iron phosphate battery storage remains the mainstream technology, accounting for 92.64% of the market. Other technologies, such as flow batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and compressed air storage, are also experiencing rapid development. The Report further examines the distribution of new energy storage applications, highlighting significant growth across the grid side, generation side, and user side, with respective shares of 59.15%, 35.06%, and 5.79%.
In terms of regional distribution, the Northwest region shows the largest increase in installed capacity, while the East China region experiences the fastest growth in user-side storage. The Report also analyzes ongoing and planned projects, indicating that by 2024, ongoing projects will have a scale of 18.68 GW/54.61 GWh, with planned projects reaching 281.63 GW/706.36 GWh.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the rapid advancement of wind and solar projects, particularly in large-scale renewable energy bases in desert, gobi, and arid areas, along with the gradual improvement of the electricity market mechanism, will enhance the profitability of energy storage on both the renewable and grid sides, sustaining rapid growth in new energy storage projects.
2. Policy Analysis
The Report states that between January 2023 and December 2024, numerous favorable macro policies were introduced, with 183 policies related to energy storage issued at the national level. These include 40 development planning policies, 36 technical support policies, 32 policies related to electricity pricing and market regulation, 32 supervisory policies, 19 standardization policies, 14 policies related to infrastructure construction for energy storage, 7 policies for renewable energy storage, and 3 subsidy policies.
The Report also examines local policies, noting that several provinces have introduced demand response and subsidy policies to promote energy storage development. In total, 15 provinces have specified 96 subsidy policies for energy storage, with contributions from provinces such as Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. By 2024, 34 new subsidy policies were enacted across various provinces.
Furthermore, the Report discusses electricity market policies, reporting the initial establishment of a multi-tiered electricity market system across the country, with gradual improvements in ancillary services and spot market policies. By 2024, a series of related policies were introduced, establishing coordination between national markets and provincial/territorial markets. This includes the regular opening of inter-provincial and intra-provincial medium- and long-term transactions, covering all areas of regional and intra-provincial ancillary services, and the trial operation of several provincial-level spot markets.
3. Standardization
In terms of standardization, the Report emphasizes the importance of establishing a comprehensive technical standard system for the entire energy storage industry chain. It highlights the development and framework of standardization organizations at home and abroad and notes significant progress in the establishment of a new energy storage standard system this year, with over 40 national and industry standards officially published or implemented.
The Report details the construction of the new energy storage standard system, which encompasses general principles, planning and design, equipment testing, construction acceptance, grid operation, maintenance, and emergency safety measures. It also mentions local standards introduced by some provinces and cities to promote the standardization and safe application of energy storage technologies.
4. Technical Analysis
Regarding energy storage technology, the Report asserts that lithium iron phosphate battery storage will maintain its leading position in the short term. Apart from these batteries, various technological routes are emerging, especially compressed air storage, flywheel storage, supercapacitors, liquid flow batteries, and sodium-ion batteries, which are gaining popularity and showing promising development prospects. Additionally, innovative technologies such as gravity storage and liquid air storage are being implemented.
The Report provides in-depth introductions to the aforementioned technologies and their application projects. It identifies various application scenarios for different storage technologies, stating that lithium-ion batteries are suitable for power quality and backup power, while flow batteries are ideal for large-scale peak shaving.
Emerging trends include advancements in lithium battery safety, cost reduction, and overall performance improvements, alongside accelerated R&D and application of flow batteries and sodium-ion batteries, leading to a diverse landscape in energy storage technology. The Report points out that technologies such as 5MWh+ storage systems, networked storage, and fully liquid-cooled systems are becoming new trends.
5. Cost Analysis
The Report analyzes future cost trends, indicating that with technological advancements and increased production scale, energy storage costs are expected to decline further. It notes that globally, battery packs constitute over 50% of the turnkey system cost. In 2024, the battery pack costs for 2-hour and 4-hour systems in China are projected to account for 62% and 65%, respectively. The average price of turnkey energy storage systems in China is expected to fall to $85 per kWh, with a minimum price of $58 per kWh, significantly lower than in the US ($236 per kWh) and Europe ($275 per kWh). By 2035, storage costs are anticipated to decrease by 45%-57%, resulting in prices of $47, $111, and $127 per kWh in China, Europe, and the US, respectively.
6. Production Capacity
The Report indicates that in 2024, some enterprises report a monthly operating rate consistently below 70%, suggesting that certain companies are still operating below capacity, leading to significant asset and equipment waste. The domestic energy storage industry is rapidly developing, with 108 projects making progress and a planned annual production capacity of 621.42 GWh with an investment of 164.62 billion yuan. Current lithium battery production capacity exceeds 1886 GWh, with Ningde Times leading at 640 GWh. Planned capacities for flow batteries and sodium-ion batteries are 124.28 GWh and 254.7 GWh, respectively, indicating an accelerated layout of storage technologies and ongoing industry growth.
7. Safety
The Report analyzes the safety of electrochemical and mechanical energy storage, emphasizing the need to enhance early warning capabilities and improve firefighting systems. It also discusses multiple safety incident cases in energy storage and suggests safety measures.
8. Typical Case Studies
The Report lists typical application cases for technologies such as lithium-ion batteries, flow batteries, sodium-ion batteries, compressed air storage, and flywheel storage.
9. Future Market Forecast
The Report predicts that the energy storage market will continue to grow rapidly, with widespread applications for lithium-ion batteries, flow batteries, and sodium-ion batteries. By 2025, the global cumulative installed capacity of energy storage is expected to reach approximately 450 GW, including about 338 GW from new energy storage, 105 GW from pumped hydro storage, and 7 GW from thermal energy storage. By 2030, the global installed capacity is projected to approach 980 GW, with new energy storage accounting for 780 GW, pumped hydro storage for 190 GW, and thermal energy storage for 10 GW.
10. Conclusions and Outlook
The Report analyzes the pressures and challenges faced by the industry. While lithium battery storage systems are rapidly advancing, they encounter several challenges, including overcapacity, intense price competition, and increasing industry consolidation, leading some enterprises to experience revenue growth without profit increase. Commercial models require optimization, as some regions have low energy storage returns, and market mechanisms are still underdeveloped, with limited coverage of the spot market, making it difficult to effectively incentivize energy storage development. The expansion of energy storage station scales poses operational and management challenges, and while large-scale systems (6MWh+) show cost reduction potential, safety and integration capabilities still need improvement. Intense competition in international markets, along with increasing trade barriers, affects energy storage product exports. Although new string-type and networked energy storage technologies have made breakthroughs, challenges remain in integration, economic viability, and application. The Report recommends improving the energy storage market mechanism, promoting diversified development, and strengthening technological innovation and safety assurances.
