EU approves 45 GW energy storage target to reduce natural gas exposure. China builds World’s largest power supply system
（2026/6/29—2026/7/5）
Author: Shu-Xin Zhang
International Energy News
1. EU approves 45 GW energy storage target to reduce natural gas exposure
The Council of the European Union has recently approved a significant energy storage agreement, requiring member states to increase their energy storage deployment scale by at least 20% from the 2025 baseline. This marks the EU's first tripartite energy storage agreement.
Under the agreement, member states commit to raising the EU's annual energy storage deployment from approximately 12 GW in 2025 to about 45 GW during the 2026–2028 period. The European Commission estimates that these commitments will bring 30 to 35 GW of new storage capacity online. The agreement brings together public sector entities, financial institutions, clean energy developers, and industrial energy off-takers, aiming to create an investment environment that balances the energy transition with long-term economic growth. The agreement notes that the EU will need approximately 200 GW of energy storage capacity by 2030, compared with around 55 GW in early 2026.
The agreement mandates that energy storage should supply about 10% of peak demand by 2028, up from 5% in 2025, in order to reduce natural gas dependence and improve renewable energy utilization efficiency. Other targets include: expanding power purchase agreements related to storage assets from 1.5 GW to 4.5 GW; increasing industrial thermal energy storage capacity in the commercial and industrial sector from 0.5 GWh to 1.5 GWh; raising the share of storage co-located with renewable energy in the commercial and industrial sector from 5% to 20%; and expanding commercial and industrial battery capacity from 9 GWh to 24 GWh.
2. European heatwave pushes up electricity prices
The latest analysis from European energy consultancy AleaSoft Energy Forecasting shows that last week's heatwaves across much of Europe drove up electricity demand and further pushed up weekly average electricity prices.
Compared with the previous week, weekly average electricity prices rose in the Belgian, British, Dutch, French, German, Nordic, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish markets. Except for the Nordic, Portuguese, and Spanish markets, weekly average prices in all other markets exceeded €115/MWh. The highest weekly average price last week was recorded in the Belgian market, reaching €148.34/MWh.
Several markets saw price spikes during the week. The Belgian market recorded a daily average price of €257.55/MWh on June 24, the highest since December 2024; the Dutch market reached €227.99/MWh on the same day, also the highest since December 2024. French and British market prices reached €157.87 and €184.65/MWh, respectively, both the highest since January 2025; the German market recorded €207.84/MWh, the highest since November 2025.
The analysis points out that the main drivers of the price increases were the heatwave-driven rise in electricity demand, coupled with declining solar power generation in Italy, Portugal, and Spain, as well as lower wind power output in Germany and Italy. Prices are expected to retreat in the first week of July as demand declines in most markets.
3. U.S. proposes ban on imports of Chinese inverters
According to foreign media reports, sources with knowledge of the matter have revealed that the United States is drafting an import ban aimed at restricting foreign inverter products from entering the U.S. market, with U.S. officials expressing concerns that Chinese companies could use such equipment to carry out malicious interference with the country's power supply.
China is the world's largest producer of inverters, with Sungrow and Huawei being the industry's leading manufacturers. The proposed restriction is being drafted by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and is primarily focused on new overseas inverter products, with the policy potentially taking effect within the current year. The U.S. has revived this restriction in part because the EU has already explicitly prohibited the procurement of Chinese-made inverters for publicly subsidized energy projects. Sources also indicated that the draft could still undergo significant revisions or be shelved entirely.
In response to the proposed policy, the FCC and the White House declined to comment. The Chinese Embassy in the United States issued a statement expressing firm opposition to the U.S. overstretching the concept of national security and unjustifiably suppressing Chinese companies, urging the U.S. to create a fair, just, and non-discriminatory market environment for Chinese enterprises.
Domestic energy news
1. China builds World’s largest power supply system
The National Energy Administration recently released the China Power Supply Development Report 2026, which shows that China has built the world's largest power supply system. Residential users and small and micro enterprises have bid farewell to the era of "paying for power access", and the public's sense of gain from electricity use has significantly improved.
According to the report, China's total electricity consumption reached a new milestone in 2025, surpassing 10 trillion kilowatt-hours. The number of electricity users is close to 800 million, ranking first in the world. There are also 99,000 power supply service outlets across the country with more than 560,000 employees, propelling China's power supply capacity and service level to the forefront internationally.
Service models continue to innovate. At present, China's power supply services have fully shifted from basic supply to quality experience. A total of 65,900 convenient power access service points for "QR code electricity use" and "shared electricity use" have been built nationwide. The number of registered users on power grid enterprises' online service platforms has reached 570 million, and the online handling rate of electricity services exceeds 97%.
The green mobility network is expanding rapidly. The total number of electric vehicle charging facilities nationwide has exceeded 20 million. Throughout the year, "Three-Zero" (zero application, zero inspection, zero investment) power access services were provided for 210,000 electric bicycle charging facilities, saving over 400 million yuan in power access investment and covering more than 70,000 residential communities, delivering more economical and convenient green travel services to the public.
2. World’s tallest dam, Shuangjiangkou hydropower station, connected to grid for power generation
On June 26, the first generating unit of the Shuangjiangkou Hydropower Station—home to the world's tallest dam—located in Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, was connected to the grid for power generation. With a maximum dam height of 315 meters, this earth-core rockfill dam has surpassed the Jinping-I and Lianghekou hydropower stations, setting a new global record for dam height.
As a controlling reservoir on the upper reaches of the main stem of the Dadu River, the Shuangjiangkou Hydropower Station has an installed capacity of 2 million kilowatts and an average annual power generation of approximately 7.7 billion kilowatt-hours. The total dam filling volume exceeds 46 million cubic meters; if the earth and stone were piled into a wall of one meter in length, width and height, it would circle the Earth's equator once. Planned, demonstrated and surveyed throughout its design by PowerChina Chengdu Engineering Corporation Limited and constructed by Sinohydro Bureau 7 Co., Ltd., the station's commissioning marks a major breakthrough for China in the construction of super-high earth-core rockfill dams over 300 meters.
The construction of the 315-meter-high dam confronted world-class challenges known as "seven highs and two developments", including high altitude, frigid temperatures, high seismic intensity, and deep overburden layers. The maximum thickness of the riverbed overburden at the dam site is nearly 68 meters, with no prior precedent worldwide for building high earth-core rockfill dams over 250 meters on such thick overburden. The geotechnical team of Chengdu Engineering Corporation conducted extensive experimental research, optimizing the zoning of dam construction materials and utilization criteria for excavation materials, enabling the dam to commence filling as scheduled in 2020. To address winter construction challenges at altitudes above 2,200 meters, the team pioneered the application of large-span fully enclosed air membrane technology combined with heliostat heating of the dam surface in hydropower projects, raising the temperature of core wall soil materials by over 5 degrees Celsius and achieving a monthly filling intensity exceeding 200,000 cubic meters. The project also developed the world's first intelligent production system for dam core wall materials, realizing full-chain intelligent control and management.
3. National energy administration: China’s power installed capacity to reach 5.4 billion kilowatts by 2030
The State Council Information Office held a series of press conferences on the theme of "Getting Off to a Good Start in the 15th Five-Year Plan Period" on the 26th. A member of the Party Leadership Group of the National Development and Reform Commission and Administrator of the National Energy Administration announced at the conference that the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Construction of a New Energy System had been recently released with the approval of the State Council. The overall goal of the Plan is to initially build a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient new energy system by 2030, providing strong support for building a strong energy nation.
Over the next five years, China's energy system will exhibit four characteristics:
First, stronger security and resilience. China's comprehensive energy production capacity will reach 5.8 billion tons of standard coal, with steady improvement in independent security capabilities and more diversified and controllable energy imports.
Second, optimized energy structure. At present, China's total installed power capacity has exceeded 4 billion kilowatts, and it is expected to reach 5.4 billion kilowatts by 2030. Among this, new energy installed capacity will account for more than 50%, becoming the mainstay of power installed capacity; non-fossil fuel power generation will account for 50%, becoming the main source of electricity; and coal and oil consumption will peak.
Third, updated system form. China will accelerate the development of a new energy infrastructure system that is strong, resilient, green, low-carbon, integrated and intelligent, and initially build a new power system.
Fourth, stronger innovation vitality. The modernization level of the industrial chain will be significantly enhanced, bringing China to the forefront of the world's energy technological innovation. Market and pricing mechanisms adapted to the new energy system will be further improved, and a unified national power market will be basically established.
(Main news sources: CCTVNEWS APP, Xinhua New Media, International Energy Network, China Energy Network, National Energy Administration)
