(Bloomberg) -- China almost quadrupled its energy storage capacity from new technologies last year, as the nation works to buttress its rapidly expanding but unreliable renewables sector and wean itself off dirty coal.

Capacity rose to 31.4 gigawatts, from just 8.7 gigawatts in 2022, the National Energy Administration said Thursday. The systems are mainly lithium-ion batteries. The tally also also includes other technologies such as compressed air storage, but excludes pumped hydro facilities. In July, the NEA had reported a near-doubling of capacity in the first half of the year to 17.3 gigawatts. 

The battery storage boom comes as some provincial governments mandate renewables developers to build or rent capacity, to ensure they capture as much energy as possible from intermittent wind and solar generation. China’s new wind and solar installations probably accounted for well over half the global total last year, according to BloombergNEF.

Over 20 regions in China have introduced plans for energy storage and more policies are underway, the NEA said.

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Clean energy storage has attracted over 100 billion yuan ($14 billion) of direct investment since 2021, the NEA said, as renewables become established as a new driver of China’s economic growth. BNEF expects China to lead construction globally this decade, reaching 250 gigawatts of capacity by 2030. 

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