To improve national grid stability, the Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a new directive requiring all large-scale renewable energy projects to integrate energy storage systems (ESS).

Jinko ESS, a global leading energy storage solution provider and a subsidiary of Jinko Solar Co., Ltd., recently announced the successful completion of a large-scale fire test for SunTera 5MWh Liquid-Cooling Energy Storage System. Conducted at a specialized testing facility in Suzhou City, Anhui Province, the test followed the CSA C800 standard and the November 2025 draft of UL 9540A and was witnessed on-site by CSA Group representatives and North American fire protection engineers.

In January 2026, China’s user-side new energy storage market recorded a year-on-year decline of more than 50% in newly added capacity. The pace of project filings slowed while quality improved, and market deployment shifted toward larger single projects and more capital-intensive investments.

China’s new-type energy storage market witnessed a strong start in January 2026. Newly commissioned capacity in January increased by over 60% year-on-year, while the market’s underlying structure showed notable adjustments compared with the same period last year.

Recently, China has achieved a major breakthrough in the research and development of compressed air energy storage(CAES) technology . Developed jointly by the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences(IET, CAS) and ZHONG-CHU-GUO-NENG(BEIJING)TECHNOLOGY CO.,LTD., the world’s first CAES compressor with the largest single unit power has successfully passed the third-party testing accredited by CNAS. According to the test results, the compressor achieved maximum discharge pressure of 10.1MPa, a maximum power output of 101MW and an operating range of 38.7% to 118.4% under variable conditions and an efficiency of 88.1% at maximum discharge pressure, reaching an internationally leading level.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China’s energy storage technology mix witnessed noticeable changes where pumped hydro storage accounted for less than 40% for the first time while the new-type energy storage represented by lithium batteries saw explosive growth.

On January 8, 2026, a 500MWh standalone Battery Energy Storage System(BESS) project located at Maritsa East 3 in Bulgaria was officially commissioned. The project was the jointly developed by BYD Energy Storage and ContourGlobal under their strategic collaboration which is one of the largest standalone energy storage projects in East Europe.

Recently, Tianneng Group signed a strategic agreement with NASDAQ-listed company VCIG Group. The two parties will build a 1GWh AIDC solar energy storage power station in Malacca, Malaysia. The project aims to address the high-energy-consumption challenge of AIDC and will be developed under an “EPC+F” model.

Global tech giant Amazon has been approved as the buyer of the 1.2GW Sunstone solar project in Oregon, one of the largest solar PV projects in the US.

On January 16th, a 107.12MW/428.48MWh green hydropower-based aluminium user-side energy storage project jointly developed by Great Power and Henan Zhongfu Industry was officially commissioned in Guangyuan, Sichuan Province.

Expanding effective investment is a key lever for stabilizing growth and improving people’s livelihoods. According to China Southern Power Grid, the company has embarked RMB 180 billion for fixed-asset investment in 2026, marking a record high for fifth consecutive year, with an annual growth rate of 9.5%. Investment will be directed primarily toward the development of a new-type power system, the growth of strategic emerging industries and the enhancement of high-quality power supply services, providing solid support for a strong start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

On January 16th, Cornex New Energy signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Egypt-based partners WeaCan and Kemet.

The agreement was signed by Dai Deming, chairman of Cornex New Energy and Ahmed Salaheldin Abdelwahab Elabd, Chiarman of the Board of Kemet. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Moustafa Kamal Esmat Mahmoud, minister of Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, along with other government officials and senior executives from relevent enterprises.

The Phase I 100MW/200MWh Nanlang energy storage power station, supplied by Sineng Electric, has now been successfully commissioned and put into operation. As the first large-scale standalone energy storage project on the grid side to be completed and commissioned in Zhongshan, China, the facility not only injects enhanced flexibility into the regional power grid, but establishes efficient and reliable revenue mechanism through an innovative frequency regulation service model.

In December 2025, the 500MW/2000MWh energy storage project was successfully grid-connected in Dengkou, Inner Mongolia. The energy storage station, standing proudly under the winter sun, is the first GWh-level project delivered by JD Energy. It not only set a new record for the scale of a single project but marked a significant milestone in the company’s development with its outstanding construction achievements.

2025 marks a pivotal year for the energy storage industry. The large energy storage cells, which were once limited to “theoretical parameters”, will officially bid farewell to the technical competition phase and enter the practical testing stage of capacity release, yield improvement, and project implementation. Leading enterprises like CATL, EVE, Envision, HTHIUM, and SUNWODA have successively achieved mass production and delivery, and with the intensive landing of GWh-level strategic cooperation and accelerated expansion into overseas markets, this marks the transition of large-capacity cells from lab prototypes to commercial applications. The speed at which energy storage systems are evolving to higher energy density and lower cost has far exceeded industry expectations.

Egypt has taken a major step toward accelerating its clean energy transition, as Chinese energy storage leader Sungrow and Norwegian renewable developer Scatec partner with the Egyptian government to deliver large-scale solar+storage projects and establish the Middle East’s first battery energy storage manufacturing base, with a planned annual capacity of 10 GWh.

In December 2025, two large-scale grid-side independent energy storage projects supported by Beijing KeRui were successfully connected to the grid in Inner Mongolia and put into operation: the 500 MW / 2,000 MWh Gushanliang project in Ordos and the 400 MW / 2,400 MWh Bu’erhantu project in Baotou.

Mingyang Longyuan has built a major milestone in China’s energy storage sector with the successful full-capacity grid connection of its first 100MW/400MWh high-voltage cascade independent energy storage project in Ordos, Inner Mongolia. The project’s commissioning highlights the company’s technological strength in large-scale, high-efficiency, and highly reliable energy storage solutions, while reinforcing the critical role of advanced storage systems in supporting grid stability and renewable energy integration.

The world’s largest single-site electrochemical energy storage power station—the Envision Jingyi Chagan Hada Energy Storage Power Station—was successfully connected to the grid, completing a 12.8 GWh AI-powered energy storage cluster in Inner Mongolia. The project sets new global benchmarks for scale, grid-connection speed, and system reliability, while demonstrating advanced grid-forming capabilities that enable rapid commissioning, deep grid interaction, and large-scale renewable integration.