From ESS News
The energy storage industry has reached the 100 GW era, with BloombergNEF’s Energy Storage Market Outlook for 1H 2026 confirming that 112 GW was installed in 2025.
Having tracked record installation numbers since 2014, the rise from 2024’s figure was a full 48% increase, for the 112 GW figure and 307 GWh of batteries added worldwide, according to the analysts at BloombergNEF. Global energy storage capacity, cumulatively, has reached 2.9 TW, a figure which excludes pumped hydro. In 2026, expectations are for another massive increase, with a jump of 41% from 2025 to 158 GW / 459 GWh in total.
With the outlook containing several predictions over the next decade, the 1H 2026 Outlook predicts that by the end of 2036, cumulative capacity will have reached 2,867 GW / 10, 514 GW, some 10 times the levels in 2025. In 2036, 306 GW will be installed annually.
China continues to lead the way in installations, as it has for many years, accounting for 54% of new additions in 2025, followed by the US at 16%. Utility-scale projects accounted for 85% of 2025’s capacity additions, mostly used for energy shifting.
Isshu Kikuma, Senior Associate, Energy Storage at the company, noted: “It only took four years for energy storage to increase annual additions to more than 100 GW from 10 GW, whereas it took roughly eight and 15 years for solar and wind, respectively. This record underscores growing market momentum and increased industry maturity.”
Chemistries
An interesting aspect of the outlook is the energy storage share. Lithium-ion batteries are dominated by the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) construction of cells, with LFP accounting for 90% of annual additions.
BloombergNEF expects this to change, with annual additions of long-duration energy storage (duration at six hours or longer) set to quadruple to 2 GW.
In terms of sodium-ion batteries, the analysts expect it to gain share but withheld on a firm power or capacity prediction for the future. The Outlook did note sodium-ion supply agreements, including CATL’s deal with HyperStong for 60 GWh of sodium batteries, and Peak Energy’s deal with Jupiter Power for 4.75 GWh supply.
Solar vs storage
Annual energy storage additions are approaching solar capacity, with a once-enormous gap now narrowing. As many projects embrace adding standalone storage or complementary storage, the solar-to-energy storage ratio fell to 6:1 in 2025 from 56:1 in 2016, and may fall to a predicted 4:1 in 2026.
Image: BloombergNEF
In terms of adverse impacts to energy storage from the Iran war, the Outlook suggests the impact has been limited:
“The direct impact of the Iran war on energy storage markets has been limited to date, primarily due to China’s dominance in battery supply chains. Nonetheless, soaring fossil fuel prices could have several implications,” noted Kikuma, who pointed at improved revenues, and likely additional installations, but headwinds from increased shipping and manufacturing costs. Impacts will be more regional than equally shared.
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