Latest news on international energy storage as of April

I. Industry Overview: Transitioning from Scale Expansion to Value Deepening

In April 2026, new energy storage was officially recognized as one of the six "emerging pillar industries". The core of industry competition is shifting from a simple comparison of installed capacity to the creation of full life cycle value and security guarantees. At the 14th Energy Storage International Summit and Exhibition (ESIE 2026) that opened on April 1st, over 800 global enterprises showcased their products on the same stage. Focusing on the core theme of "Scenario Innovation, Value Reconstruction, Global Win-Win", they deeply discussed how the energy storage industry can enhance its core value through scenario-based application innovation.

XingYi Securities and other institutions have pointed out that in 2026, the energy storage industry will accelerate its growth driven by policy, demand, and economic benefits. Many countries around the world have intensively introduced policies to support residential energy storage, and industrial and commercial energy storage is also in the stage of expanding and accumulating strength. The rise of emerging fields such as AI is continuously boosting electricity demand. Under the combined effect of multiple favorable factors, the overall prosperity of the energy storage sector continues to improve.

II. Policy Updates: Global Energy Storage Policies Accelerating Their Opening Window

In Europe, the revised draft of Germany's EEG 2027 proposes to abolish the fixed feed-in tariff for photovoltaic systems below 25kW, limit the feed-in power at 50%, and mandate a high proportion of self-consumption, significantly increasing the penetration rate of energy storage, and activating the demand for over 40GW of existing household photovoltaic renovations; the UK has launched a £15 billion "Warm Homes Programme", aiming to cover up to 500,000 households from 2026 to 2030, promoting photovoltaic-storage, heat pumps through subsidies and mandatory standards.

In the Middle East, the Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) is preparing to launch the bidding for the first phase of a 2GW battery energy storage system project. It plans to purchase a cumulative total of 10GW (approximately 40GWh) of energy storage capacity by 2030, using the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model for development. Oman and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) will jointly hold an energy storage strategy seminar on April 14th to promote the implementation of the country's first 100MWh-level photovoltaic-storage integration project. IRENA will provide technical and policy support to assist Oman in building a national energy storage development framework.

In South Asia, the Sri Lankan government is accelerating the implementation of a large-scale battery energy storage system deployment plan. The commissioning time of the 300MW energy storage capacity has been significantly advanced from the originally planned 2031-2032, in order to address the power system imbalance caused by the rapid expansion of renewable energy.

In terms of emerging markets, Australia has significantly increased its subsidy budget for household energy storage to 7.2 billion Australian dollars, aiming to cover 2 million households by 2030; in the Netherlands, the net metering electricity price has been gradually abolished, which is expected to encourage more households to install home battery energy storage systems.

III. Market Data: Global New Energy Storage Experiences Rapid Growth, and China's Market Share Rises Above Half for the First Time

According to the "Energy Storage Industry Research White Paper 2026" released by CNESA, in 2025, the installed capacity of new power storage projects globally exceeded 100 GW for the first time, with the newly added installed capacity of new energy storage accounting for over 90%. By the end of 2025, the cumulative installed capacity of power storage projects in operation worldwide reached 496.2 GW, increasing by 33.3% year-on-year. The cumulative installed capacity of pumped storage power has dropped below 50% for the first time, and the global energy storage technology structure is accelerating towards diversification.

China's new energy storage installations have ranked first globally for four consecutive years. By 2025, the scale of new energy storage projects put into operation will reach 66.4 GW/189.5 GWh, with a year-on-year growth of 51.9%/72.6%, accounting for 58.6% of the global market share. China's cumulative installed capacity of new energy storage has reached 144.7 GW, accounting for more than two-thirds of the total domestic power storage capacity. Its share in the global new energy storage market has exceeded half for the first time, reaching 51.9%.

From a global perspective, China, the United States, and Europe remain the three regions with the largest global energy storage market size. However, with the rapid growth of energy storage markets in regions such as the Middle East and Latin America, the global energy storage market is gradually expanding to a wider range of areas.

IV. Enterprise Updates: The Outbound Expansion Trend and Technological Competition

In terms of order signing, Chinese energy storage enterprises are showing a strong outbound expansion momentum. On March 31st, three energy storage enterprises - China Innovation Battery, Yun Neng Magic Cube, and ATS - simultaneously announced the signing of overseas energy storage orders. They respectively won energy storage orders in the Japanese, German, and British markets, with a total scale of 940 MWh. Among them, ATS Energy Storage won a 420 MWh battery energy storage system order for the UK, which will be used in two energy storage projects in England and Scotland; Yun Neng Magic Cube signed a contract with a German partner, providing 140 MWh large-scale grid-level energy storage system products for two key nodes of the German power grid, and is expected to complete the delivery and grid connection by the end of 2026; Era Energy Storage signed a 600 MWh iron-chromium liquid flow battery supply order with the German Redox One company.

In the Asia-Pacific market, Haiden Energy Storage has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Brawn Capital, a leading renewable energy infrastructure investment institution in the Asia-Pacific region. The two parties plan to achieve cumulative 3GWh of long-duration energy storage and other project collaborations by 2030. Currently, about 20 ultra-high voltage projects have entered the preparation stage, and the 300MWh energy storage product is scheduled to be delivered in 2027. Changan Xinchang has signed a 380MWh project contract with a Japanese energy storage developer, using their "Zhuojiu" energy storage batteries. Neoen announced during the French-Japanese Economic Forum that it will build a 100MW/400MWh Chisui energy storage project in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. This is also Neoen's first investment in Japan and is planned to be put into operation in 2028.

AI data center energy storage has become a new growth driver. Jinko Energy has released a full-scenario photovoltaic and energy storage solution for AI data centers, relying on the SunTera energy storage system to meet the energy demands brought about by the explosive growth of AI computing power. Trina Energy made the world's first AIDC (AI Data Center) all-encompassing integration solution and jointly released the "Grid-connected Energy Storage White Paper". Haiden Energy showcased innovative achievements such as AIDC all-time-long energy storage solutions, and its 1000 ampere-hour 6.25MWh system passed large-scale fire tests and received international authoritative certification.

In terms of investment and financing, the energy storage platform Kingdom, supported by Stonepeak, has completed the financing for its first 29MW Japanese energy storage project, which uses battery technology from CATL. In the United States, EnerVenue has completed a $300 million B-round financing to promote the commercialization of nickel-hydrogen battery technology.

V. Technological Breakthrough: Quantum Batteries and Long-Term Energy Storage Progress Simultaneously

A milestone breakthrough has been achieved in the field of quantum batteries. On April 2, 2026, the world's first quantum battery prototype completed experimental verification. This was jointly developed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization of Australia, the University of Melbourne, and RMIT University. It can stably achieve high efficiency and scalable rapid charging at room temperature. This technology is based on the "super absorption" quantum effect. The charging power significantly increases with the increase in battery size, which is completely contrary to the performance decay trend of existing chemical batteries.

Long-duration energy storage technology is accelerating its commercialization. Yiliu Lithium Energy launched the world's first 6.9 MWh energy storage system at ESIE 2026 and signed contracts for over 50 GWh of large batteries. Haiden Energy showcased innovative achievements such as the ∞Cell 1175Ah long-duration energy storage battery and system, and 6.25 MWh systems. Three companies in the United States (Form Energy, Noon Energy, and Ore Energy) are all commercializing 100-hour long-duration energy storage battery technologies. Many global enterprises (Unigrid, Inlyte Energy, CIUDEN, Sunamp) are advancing non-lithium energy storage technology research.

VI. Regional Focus

Europe: Order Intensification, Market Accelerated Expansion

In April, Europe's energy storage market witnessed a flurry of order signings. JinkoSolar Energy secured a 420 MWh energy storage order in the UK, while Yuneng Magic Cube signed a 140 MWh grid-level energy storage project in Germany. France's Neoen announced the construction of a 248 MW/496 MWh energy storage facility in France, which will become the largest energy storage battery in France and the first energy storage project connected to the 400 kV transmission grid. The Croatian state-owned power company HEP, with the support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, initiated a 56 MW photovoltaic plus 200 MWh energy storage project tender, with the bid deadline set for May 12, 2026. However, the European energy storage market also faces challenges: In 2025, Europe added 27.1 GWh of energy storage, but by the beginning of 2026, market saturation and the decline in the economic viability of energy storage assets had emerged in Northern Europe and Germany.

The United States: Electricity Shortage Crisis Drives Acceleration of Energy Storage

In April, the U.S. energy storage market witnessed several major approvals. The Michigan Public Service Commission approved six battery energy storage system projects with a total power capacity of 1.3 GW, and some of these projects will provide power support for the 1.3 GW data center being constructed by Oracle's subsidiary. The Minnesota Public Utility Commission approved Xcel Energy to deploy up to 200 MW of battery energy storage systems on the distribution network. According to a research report by CICC, the explosive demand for AI data centers will lead to a power shortage in the North American power grid reaching 39.9 GW, 51.8 GW, and 67.8 GW respectively in 2026-2028, and the demand for energy storage and power grid construction is urgent.

Asia-Pacific: Enterprises from China, Japan and South Korea are competing in the energy storage blue ocean

The Asia-Pacific energy storage market was active in April. Haiden Energy Storage and Brawn Capital signed a 3GWh long-term energy storage cooperation agreement. The Japanese market has become a key breakthrough point for Chinese energy storage enterprises. Three Chinese companies have won energy storage orders in Japan: Chongqing Sinovation 380MWh, Sunergy Power 100MWh, and Vision Power and NEXTES signed a three-year 1.5GWh energy storage cell purchase agreement. Neoen launched Japan's first large-scale energy storage project (100MW/400MWh), planning to be operational in 2028. The Kingdom platform supported by Stonepeak completed the financing of a 29MW energy storage project in Japan, using battery from CATL.

Middle East: Geopolitical Conflicts Elevate the Strategic Importance of Energy Storage

The geopolitical situation in the Middle East remains tense, causing disruptions in the global energy supply chain. As a result, the significance of energy storage for achieving energy self-sufficiency has significantly increased. Saudi Arabia is preparing to launch the first phase of a 2GW battery storage system tender, aiming to purchase a cumulative total of 10GW (40GWh) of storage capacity by 2030. In Egypt, the United Arab Emirates' AMEA Power is seeking $223.5 million in financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to build two large-scale battery storage projects with a capacity of 750MW/1,500MWh. This will become Egypt's first independent utility-scale battery storage system. Egypt has signed agreements for a total of 5.62GW of renewable energy and battery storage projects.

Summary

In April 2026, the global energy storage industry witnessed three core trends: continuous policy-driven acceleration (several countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, and Australia have launched energy storage subsidy policies); geopolitical conflicts have stimulated the demand for energy autonomy (the tense situation in the Middle East has accelerated the deployment of energy storage in the region); and the demand for AI data centers has exploded (AIDC storage capacity orders have gradually been released in markets such as the United States and China). The global energy storage industry is entering an unprecedented development window period.