The shifting technology landscape of electrical energy storage toward carbon neutrality in China

The strategic deployment of electrical energy storage technologies enables a new power system with higher renewable energy integration and further empowers the whole society’s transition to a green, sustainable, and technologically advanced energy economy. Here we review the shifting landscape of electrical energy storage technologies in China, commenting on the technological advantages, breakthroughs, bottlenecks, and future directions of technologies from ultrashort-term options like flywheels to ultralong-term solutions like hydrogen storage. Levelized cost of those technologies are key in predicting their future deployment, while diversified local energy storage solutions are necessary to accommodate local energy resources and consumption. To promote deployment of electrical energy storage technologies, multi-sectoral policies encompassing innovation policy, regulatory policy, financial incentives, workforce training, as well as locally tailored planning are needed.