In the first half of 2026, the semi annual report of the State Grid will disclose the core business data. In addition to the revenue of 1.85 trillion yuan, the fixed assets investment of more than 310 billion yuan will increase by 12.6% year on year, and the pumped storage sector will deliver a global leading mid-term answer.

As of the end of June, the installed capacity of fully managed pumped storage by State Grid Corporation of China has exceeded 95 million kilowatts, with a total of 76 power stations in operation, under construction, and approved. Among them, 37 are in the stage of full speed promotion, further consolidating its global leading advantage in the long-term energy storage track.

Dual track acceleration of investment and technology

In 2026, the pace of construction in the domestic pumped storage industry continues to accelerate, and State Grid plans to complete an investment of 31 billion yuan in the pumped storage field for the whole year, reaching a new high in recent years. On the project side, the first unit of Hebei Shangyi Pumped Storage Power Station will be officially put into operation in September, with a total installed capacity of 1.2 million kilowatts. After operation, it can achieve an annual power generation of 2 billion kilowatt hours; The Yangjiang Pumped Storage Power Station in Guangdong Province has completed the excavation and completion of the underground powerhouse, and the domestically produced variable speed unit with a single capacity of 400MW has entered the installation stage.

On the technical side, the research and application of large-scale variable speed pumped storage units and wide load long-term grid connected pumped storage units have been implemented, driving the domestic hydropower equipment manufacturing industry to complete a new round of upgrading, and the localization rate of core components has increased to over 98%.

Green power adaptation capability continues to upgrade

With the continuous expansion of domestic wind and solar power installed capacity, the peak valley difference of the power grid has increased by 32% compared to three years ago. Pumped storage, as the most mature and economically optimal large-scale energy storage method, further highlights its adaptability value.

The newly started pumped storage projects in Hezhou, Yulin and other areas of Guangxi in 2026 are all equipped with a source network load storage collaborative dispatch system, which can directly connect to the output fluctuations of surrounding new energy bases. According to industry estimates, by the end of 2026, the country will add over 8 million kilowatts of pumped storage installed capacity and an annual green power consumption capacity of over 12 billion kilowatt hours. This will provide stable power regulation support for the future layout of computing power centers and high load energy industries in the western new energy rich regions.Editor/Cheng Liting