The world’s largest energy storage cluster has been launched in China

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At the turn of 2025 and 2026, the world’s largest single electrochemical energy storage installation was connected to China’s national power grid. The project is the Envision Jingyi Chagan Hada Energy Storage Power Station with a capacity of 4 GWh. This investment completes a gigantic energy storage cluster with a total capacity of 12.8 GWh in Inner Mongolia.

Inner Mongolia as a green energy bank

It is no coincidence that the epicenter of these investments is located in Inner Mongolia. This vast region in northern China has for years played the role of the country’s energy backbone. Huge wind and photovoltaic farms, built on the steppes and desert areas of the region, generate surplus energy under favorable conditions, significantly exceeding local demand.

Until now, the main problems were limited transmission capacity and a lack of system flexibility. As in many other regions of the world, excess green energy was often wasted through curtailment. The construction of large-scale energy storage facilities has changed this ecosystem. They perform perfectly in their classic role – enabling the buffering of surpluses and feeding them back into the grid during periods of peak demand.

In addition to the flagship 4 GWh project in Chagan Hada, the cluster includes installations in the regions of Bayannur, Ordos, Hohhot, Ulanqab, Xilingol League, and Alxa League. In total, together with other Envision projects, the energy storage capacity in Inner Mongolia has already exceeded 14 GWh.

Record tests and grid connection speed

The flagship 4 GWh installation went through acceptance procedures in a truly Chinese style – fast and on a massive scale. The project successfully completed:

  • tests of three charging and three discharging cycles at rated power,
  • a 72-hour continuous trial operation,
  • full verification of grid connection.

According to the company, this is the largest energy storage facility in China’s history to have passed such a demanding testing process in a single acceptance cycle.

AI in energy storage

The technological heart of the project consists of AI-controlled energy storage systems, combining the functions of:

  • grid-following – classic tracking of grid parameters,
  • grid-forming – the ability to stabilize voltage and frequency even under weak infrastructure or high renewable penetration.

Envision implemented a three-layer control architecture (device level, system level, and plant level) along with a full-scale simulation platform. As a result, gigawatt-scale stations can be synchronized with the grid almost instantly after voltage is applied, with minimal risk of oscillations and disturbances. This has shortened start-up times, reduced commissioning costs, and improved overall system safety.

An important element is so-called Physical AI – a concept in which intelligence is embedded in battery cells, BMS systems, and operational processes. This mechanism enables:

  • predictive maintenance,
  • real-time optimization of storage operation,
  • dynamic adjustment of charging/discharging strategies to grid and market conditions.

Energy storage as an active market participant

Alongside the launch of the storage cluster, new guidelines from Chinese regulators (NDRC and NEA) on the high-quality development of power grids were published. These documents emphasize:

  • the need to diversify regulatory tools in the system,
  • support for energy storage as system resources,
  • the development of grid-forming technologies,
  • integration of market mechanisms with dispatch operations.

In this context, the 12.8 GWh cluster is to be fully integrated with the electricity spot market. Envision’s AI combines trading algorithms with grid stabilization functions. Their system creates a closed loop: forecasting → operational planning → energy trading → learning from operational data. According to the company, in previous deployments their systems achieved the highest forecast accuracy in the region for many consecutive months, and the total return on investment over the life cycle of the installations is expected to increase by more than 20%.

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