After the rapid rise of solar energy, large-scale batteries are now expanding across power grids worldwide.
According to new figures from BloombergNEF, global installations of grid batteries climbed by 48 % in 2025 compared with the previous year. Around 112 GW of battery storage capacity were added during the year, the highest amount ever recorded and ten times more than in 2021.
China and the United States led the surge. China was responsible for more than half of all new battery capacity installed globally, while the US contributed 16 %.
Several other regions also recorded strong growth. Australia, helped by its sunny climate, increased installations almost sixfold in 2025, though from a relatively modest base of 827 MW in 2024. In the United Kingdom, where the final coal plant closed in 2024, battery additions nearly doubled to 2.6 GW. Across sub-Saharan Africa, installations rose sharply as well, reaching 4.3 GW after growing around five times in a single year.
Battery storage is beginning to narrow the gap with solar development. Ten years ago, the world added 56 MW of solar power for every 1 MW of storage. Last year, the ratio fell to 6-to-1, and BloombergNEF expects it to reach 4-to-1 this year.
The rapid growth is being fuelled by falling lithium-ion battery costs, which have dropped by more than 90 % over the past 15 years.
Source: Canary Media
