Image: Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
By ESS news
According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, approximately 315 GWh were installed in both grid-scale and behind-the-meter battery energy storage system (BESS) markets, representing nearly 50% year-on-year growth.
Geographically, China and the US led the deployment, with China far outpacing all other markets. The world’s largest BESS market installed more battery capacity in December alone than the US – the second largest market – in the entire year. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Chile have risen to third, fourth and fifth places respectively, pushing Britain and Italy out of the top five markets of 2024.
Network-scale projects were the main driver of growth, accounting for almost 240 GWh of global installations. Project sizes continued to increase: 46 large-scale projects were commissioned in 2025, compared to 17 in 2024. Looking ahead, there are currently over 150 large-scale projects in the pipeline for 2026.
“2026 promises another strong year for BESS, with our current forecast for new operating capacity of over 450 GWh, up from 315 GWh in 2025,” said Iola Hughes, head of research at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. ESS news. “There should be no material supply constraints here, as cell production for BESS cells exceeds this growth over the past year, and will expand capacity further this year.”
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