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China commissions the ‘world’s largest’ compressed-air storage plant
4/2/2026
News
China has brought into commercial operation what it says is the world’s largest compressed-air energy storage (CAES) project, in Jiangsu province. With an installed power output of 600 MW and a storage capacity of 2.4 GWh, the facility is expected to generate some 792 GWh of electricity annually.
The Guoxin Suyan Huai’an demonstration project is led by Jiangsu Guoxin Group. It comprises two 300 MW CAES units, the second of which was commissioned last week.
The principle of CAES in salt caverns is similar to that of conventional pumped storage power plants. During periods of low electricity demand, typically at night, electrical energy is used to compress air and store it in underground salt caverns. The compressed air can then be released during periods of peak demand to drive turbines and generate electricity, providing flexible capacity to the power system.
A key feature of the Guoxin Suyan Huai’an project is its use of molten salt and pressurised water to capture and store the heat produced during air compression. According to Harbin Electric, the project’s primary equipment supplier, this approach delivers a ‘world-leading’ conversion efficiency of 71%.
State media have highlighted the project’s environmental benefits. China Daily reported that the facility is expected to reduce standard coal consumption by 250,000 t/y and cut 600,000 t/y of CO2 emissions, underlining the role of long-duration storage in decarbonising China’s power sector.
Harbin Electric has also supplied equipment to other large-scale CAES projects, including the 300 MW Yingcheng facility in Hubei province, which was connected to the grid in January 2025. People’s Daily Online reported at the time that the project was capable of storing energy for eight hours and releasing energy for five hours every day, generating about 500 GWh/y of electricity.
The commissioning of Guoxin Suyan Huai’an comes as China is accelerating the deployment of energy storage alongside its large-scale rollout of wind and solar power. In September 2025, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration released an action plan covering 2024–2027 to promote new forms of energy storage. The plan includes 21 measures aimed at expanding applications across generation and grid infrastructure, accelerating technological innovation and improving standardisation, with total battery energy storage capacity targeted to reach 180 GW. The Chinese government expects the plan to generate an estimated CNY250bn ($35bn) in direct project investment. An initial energy storage target of 30 GW for 2025, set in 2021, was reached in 2023.
