China emerges as leader in long-duration battery development

Analysts have observed China quietly taking a dominant position in another critical sector of the global energy transition: long-duration energy storage.

Unlike conventional lithium-ion batteries, which store energy for up to four hours, long-duration energy storage (LDES) systems can hold and release electricity over several hours or even days, Bloomberg reports.

“As intermittent renewables become a bigger part of the global power supply, LDES is badly needed to help balance energy supply and demand, and China is racing ahead of the rest of the world,” the report notes.

Last year saw a record 9.6 gigawatt-hours of new LDES capacity added worldwide, roughly 30% more than in 2024, with nearly all of it built in China.

BloombergNEF analysts attribute China’s leadership to strong political support. Beijing designated LDES as a key element of its net-zero roadmap in 2023, and the country’s energy regulator launched 56 pilot projects the following year.

Globally, projects totaling 422 gigawatt-hours of LDES capacity are in development, with 95% planned for China. The United States ranks a distant second with just 2% of all planned projects.

By Jeyhun Aghazada