Stronger government signals and new industry initiatives to support energy storage systems (ESS) in Asia-Pacific are set to accelerate deployments, creating ripple effects across the battery and lithium market in 2026 as participants eye a new growth engine.
ESS deployment remains uneven across Asia-Pacific. China accounts for 88pc of the region's 85GW capacity in 2024, according to industry group Energy Institute. The remainder is concentrated mainly in Australia and South Korea.
These countries aim to scale up ESS buildout further. China is targeting 180GW of capacity by 2027, while South Korea plans to reach 2.22GW capacity by 2029. Australia has committed A$500mn ($337.75mn) to expanding local battery manufacturing.
Other Asian nations are also picking up pace. Vietnam is targeting up to 16.3GW of ESS by 2030, while Malaysia launched its first 400MW auction this year.
Governments are increasingly supporting integrated renewables and battery projects. India and the Philippines awarded such projects this year; Australia is auctioning dispatchable clean power contracts, and Malaysia intends to do this year, according to lawmakers.
