In December 2025, China installed 65.4 GWh of grid storage in a single month—surpassing the entire annual output of the United States, which managed just 46.5 GWh for all of 2025.
Let that sink in for a moment. One month versus one year. And the US is the world's second-largest grid storage market.
According to analysis from Future Smart Strategies, battery energy storage systems are now outpacing solar as the fastest-growing component of the global energy transition. The world deployed 315 GWh of storage in 2025, and that number is projected to jump 43% to over 450 GWh in 2026.
The implications are profound. With enough storage, countries can smooth out the intermittency problems that have historically limited renewable penetration. Some research suggests that with sufficient overcapacity of wind and solar, nations might need storage to cover less than 5% of annual demand to achieve 100% renewable electricity.
China appears to be betting on exactly this scenario. The country is simultaneously building massive overcapacity in wind and solar while deploying storage at unprecedented speed. And crucially, China is rapidly electrifying its entire economy, moving away from combustion engines across transportation and industry.
As author Ernest Hemingway once wrote about bankruptcy: it happens "Two ways. Gradually and then suddenly." The same may prove true for the end of the fossil fuel age—at least in China.
The current global storage capacity stands at 690 GWh, capable of delivering approximately 414 TWh of annual electricity at 80% daily utilization. That represents about 1.15% of projected global electricity demand by 2026, up from just 0.16% in 2023.
For other nations—particularly wealthy ones that helped create the climate crisis—these numbers should be sobering. The energy transition won't wait for anyone, and the countries moving fastest are the ones building the infrastructure today, not talking about it.
