In 2002, the world built 107 gigawatts of gas power plants in a single year. That record stood unchallenged for two decades as the largest annual deployment of any single energy technology. Last year it fell. The International Energy Agency reports in its Global Energy Review 2026 that operators worldwide installed 108 gigawatts of battery storage. That is 40 percent more than 2024 and the first annual figure above 100 gigawatts in the history of stationary energy storage.
Eleven Times Larger Than 2021
The growth curve of the past four years is historically unprecedented. In 2021, global installed stationary storage capacity stood at roughly 37 gigawatts. The IEA puts the figure at end-2025 at more than eleven times that level. No other energy technology has achieved comparable scaling in this timeframe. According to the IEA, battery storage is the world's fastest-growing power generation technology.
The logic is rooted in renewables. Solar plants deliver peak generation at midday, when demand is lowest. Consumption peaks in morning and evening hours. Wind turbines often produce more at night than during the day. Battery storage buffers these temporal mismatches and can inject or absorb power within milliseconds. No gas plant matches this response speed. For frequency stabilization of modern grids absorbing increasing shares of variable renewable power, this capability is indispensable.
China, LFP Technology, and Falling Prices
About 60 percent of global new deployments in 2025 went to China: more than 63 gigawatts, one third higher than China's 2024 additions. The United States and Europe follow. The IEA also reports strong growth in Australia and the Middle East, where stationary storage is increasingly seen as central to supply security.
The dominant technology is lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP). They account for roughly 90 percent of all new stationary storage, according to the IEA. LFP cells are chemically more stable than higher-density alternatives, tolerate frequent charging and discharging better, and are cheaper to manufacture. BloombergNEF's 2025 survey found average lithium-ion battery prices at $108 per kilowatt-hour. For the first time, stationary storage has become the lowest-cost battery segment.
About 80 percent of additions came from utility-scale projects. These are not home batteries but installations with capacities in the gigawatt-hour range connected directly to the grid, performing functions that grid operators once reserved for standby power plants.
Comparison: Gas, Solar, and the Learning Curve
Energy economists observe in battery storage a price dynamic reminiscent of solar energy's path. Solar panels cost roughly $100 per watt in 1976. Today they cost less than $0.30, a decline of more than 99 percent over five decades. Lithium-ion battery prices exceeded $1,000 per kilowatt-hour in 2010. By 2025 they had fallen to $108. The learning curve remains steep and continues downward.
The world installed roughly 605 gigawatts of new solar capacity in 2025, according to IEA data. The 108 gigawatts of new stationary storage corresponds to 18 percent of that year's solar additions. Five years ago this share was barely measurable. Battery storage is catching up.
The historical comparison with gas carries a warning. The 2002 gas record emerged after power market liberalization. Deployment then collapsed and never sustained recovery. Battery storage follows the opposite pattern: each year surpasses the last.
The Decade of Stationary Storage, If Prices Keep Falling
Lithium-ion systems are typically designed for storage durations of two to four hours. They smooth daily fluctuations but cannot address seasonal imbalances. Meeting winter demand with summer solar surplus requires long-duration storage. Flow batteries, compressed air systems, and power-to-gas technologies remain in early commercialization stages. BloombergNEF estimates the long-duration storage market at roughly $9.5 billion through 2035, but genuine economies of scale remain elusive.
Supply chain questions add complexity. Most LFP cells used worldwide are made in China. The European Commission has designated battery technology as strategically critical and is supporting European manufacturing capacity through the EU Battery Regulation and investment programs. Whether Europe builds sufficient domestic production in time remains an open question for grid operators and energy policymakers alike.
For the energy transition, the trend is unambiguous. Grids that once relied on fossil fuels as buffers can progressively shift to battery storage. With falling prices and growing capacity, this ceases to be a question of whether but when.