BESS price inquiry for Bangui energy storage capacity

A BESS project in China deployed by Hyperstrong, the largest system integrator in the domestic market. Image: Hyperstrong. China has reached well over 70GW of installed BESS capacity, while DC block prices appear to be 'stable', a local metals price agency said.

Including all energy storage, its total installed capacity is now 137GW, meaning that 'new energy storage', mostly BESS, now exceeds its pumped hydro capacity. That is thanks to 43.7GW/109.8GWh of 'new energy storage' that was installed in 2024, CNESA said.

In what is described as the largest energy storage procurement in China's history, Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) is targeting an unprecedented cumulative storage capacity of 16 GWh. The bids were opened on December 4. The tender attracted 76 bidders, with quoted prices ranging from $60.5/kWh to $82/kWh, averaging $66.3/kWh.

The cost of BESS has fallen significantly over the past decade, with more precipitous drops in recent years: This is nearly a 70% reduction in three years, owing to falling battery pack prices (now as low as $60-70/kWh in China), increased deployment, and improved efficiency.

The tender marks the largest energy storage procurement in China's history. In what is described as the largest energy storage procurement in China's history, Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) is targeting an unprecedented cumulative storage capacity of 16 GWh. The bids were opened on December 4.

PetroChina's procurement was split into four sections, 0.25C, 0.5C, and 0.5C grid-forming BESS and 1C energy storage systems. A C-rate is another way to describe discharge duration, by showing how much of a BESS' capacity is discharged each hour of full power output. So a 0.25C is a 4-hour system, a 1C is a 1-hour system.