New energy storage capacity connected to the grid in northwestern China's Gansu province has surpassed 10 GW, boosting the grid's power supply reliability and renewable energy consumption.

As of end-June, installed grid-connected new energy storage capacity in Gansu reached 10.26 GW, up 69% year on year, according to State Grid Gansu Electric Power Co.

Gansu ranks among the top provinces in China for developable wind and solar resources. It has built one 10 GW-level wind power base and eleven 1 GW-level wind and solar bases, and is developing into a major national hub for new energy and related equipment manufacturing.

Total installed power generation capacity in Gansu now exceeds 120 GW, of which new energy capacity accounts for over 82 GW, or 64% of the total.

New energy storage is a key component of the evolving power system, helping to balance the temporal mismatch of renewable generation, ensure grid stability and support clean energy consumption. The 10 GW-level storage system can charge during peak solar and wind output periods, improving renewable energy utilisation by nearly three percentage points and enabling an additional 7.55 TWh of green power consumption annually. That is equivalent to saving 930,000 tonnes of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 5.9 million tonnes.

Through ultra-high voltage transmission lines linking Gansu to Hunan and Shandong provinces, the region's renewable energy bases and storage stations are delivering stable green power to support national energy security.

Wang Zheng, head of the comprehensive technology division at State Grid Gansu's dispatch centre, said the province's new energy storage system now has a maximum discharge capacity of over 5 GW, equivalent to the peak output of five 1 GW coal-fired units. The system can respond to dispatch commands within milliseconds and achieve two charge-discharge cycles per day in some periods, placing its utilisation efficiency among the highest in China.

To improve dispatch and market services for storage projects, State Grid Gansu has built a new energy storage coordination control system and a one-stop grid connection platform. These digital and intelligent tools enable precise control of large-scale storage stations, optimise storage configurations for extreme weather such as strong winds and sandstorms, and address technical challenges in large-capacity grid connection and long-term stable operation, forming a specialised technical system for large-scale storage applications.