A new international initiative to strengthen cooperation on energy storage was launched today at the China Pavilion at COP31, bringing together leading companies, industry associations and institutions from China and around the world to advance the development and deployment of energy storage.
The Global Energy Storage Alliance (GESA) Initiative was jointly launched by the China Energy Storage Alliance (CNESA), the China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute (CREEI), and China Southern Power Grid Energy Storage Co., Ltd., alongside leading domestic and international industry partners. A number of international institutions and industry organisations have expressed interest in participating.
The launch took place during the side event “Digital-Intelligent Innovation for Green Electricity: Building a New Power System & New Practices for Global Energy Transition”, held at the China Pavilion during the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31). The event brought together senior representatives of governments and international organisations, including Li Gao, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment of China; Xiong Minfeng, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of the National Energy Administration of China; Francesco La Camera, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA); and Selwin Hart, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Climate Action and a Just Transition.
A platform for global collaboration
The launch comes at a time when energy storage is gaining recognition as an increasingly important component of the global energy transition. As countries seek to expand renewable energy while maintaining secure and reliable power systems, energy storage is becoming central to efforts to enhance system flexibility, improve the integration of renewables and strengthen energy security. Yet significant barriers remain, underscoring the need for greater international cooperation.
Speaking at the launch event, Dr. Jiang Hao, Assistant to the Director-General, Lead Scientist and Director of the International Cooperation Department of CREEI, said that as the global energy transition gathers pace, an increasing number of countries and regions are recognising the value of energy storage and making it a priority on their sustainable development agendas. However, amid a complex and evolving international landscape and rising energy security concerns, the global energy storage sector continues to face significant challenges, underscoring the need for stronger international dialogue and cooperation. Against this backdrop, the establishment of GESA was proposed, with a mission to advance the large-scale, diversified and innovation-driven development of energy storage worldwide. Through enhanced international engagement and collaboration, GESA aims to help establish energy storage as core infrastructure for new power systems and make a positive contribution to the global energy transition and efforts to address climate change.
Liu Wei, Secretary-General of CNESA, outlined GESA’s six priority areas: facilitating global dialogue; developing global energy storage databases and standard systems; advancing research, development and deployment of frontier technologies; improving market mechanisms and fostering business model innovation; strengthening supply chain coordination and promoting global trade; and facilitating investment, financing and project cooperation. She emphasised that GESA would serve as an open, inclusive and pragmatic global platform, bringing together stakeholders across the industry on the basis of fairness, mutual benefit and practical cooperation. GESA aims to turn shared aspirations into concerted action and advance global energy storage cooperation towards more coordinated, organised and structured development.
Addressing barriers to energy storage deployment
The launch also highlighted the practical challenges that need to be addressed to accelerate energy storage deployment across different markets.
Drawing on China Southern Power Grid’s experience, Sun Liqun, Deputy General Manager of China Southern Power Grid Energy Storage Co., Ltd., highlighted that energy storage had evolved from a supporting resource for renewable energy into an indispensable component of new power systems. He noted that the sector still faces key challenges, including inadequate mechanisms to recognise and remunerate the value of short- and long-duration storage, fragmented technical standards and regulatory frameworks across countries, and barriers to project development, financing and viable business models in emerging economies. These challenges underscore the importance and timeliness of establishing GESA.
Supporting the global energy and climate agenda
The launch at COP31 places energy storage more firmly within the international dialogue on energy and climate action. By providing a platform for governments, businesses, research institutions and industry organisations to exchange experience and strengthen cooperation, GESA seeks to advance recognition of energy storage’s contribution to higher renewable energy utilisation, more resilient power systems, energy security and sustainable economic development.
GESA invites energy storage industry associations, companies, research institutions, international organisations and other stakeholders worldwide to take part in the initiative. Through collective engagement and practical cooperation, it aims to unlock the transformative potential of energy storage and support progress towards global energy goals, climate objectives and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
GESA welcomes participation from energy storage industry associations, businesses, research institutions, international organisations and other stakeholders worldwide. By bringing these partners together, the initiative seeks to unlock the transformative potential of energy storage and contribute to the achievement of global energy goals, climate action and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Representatives from Acwa, China Energy Storage Alliance, China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute, China Southern Power Grid Energy Storage Co., Ltd., EVE Energy, International Hydropower Association, Long Duration Energy Storage Council, Trina Solar, World Resources Institute and other leading institutions gathered to witness the unveiling of the initiative.
Global Energy Storage Alliance Initiative
We, the co-initiators of the Global Energy Storage Alliance (GESA),
Reaffirming the commitment to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particular Goal 7, namely ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all together with the long-term goals established under the Paris Agreement;
Recognising that energy storage is not only a pivotal technology for power systems with high penetrations of renewable energy, but also a core and critical infrastructure element for enhancing system flexibility, reliability, resilience, and cost-effectiveness; and further acknowledging its increasing strategic value in safeguarding national energy security and mitigating geopolitical and supply chain disruptions;
Recognising the irreplaceable nature of international cooperation in the field of energy storage; and emphasising that only through collaboration can we advance technological innovation, consolidate mutual recognition of standards, optimise industrial frameworks, facilitate investment, develop the needed workforce and skills, and accelerate project development to promote energy storage from fragmented implementation to global deployment, thereby realising our collective goal of building a modern energy system;
To this end, we hereby call for the establishment of the Global Energy Storage Alliance (GESA), dedicated to the following vision through pragmatic action in key areas, based on transparency, inclusiveness, technology neutrality, market orientation, sustainability, and respect for different regulatory models:
I. Vision
GESA is mandated to promote the large-scale, technology-diversified, and innovation-driven development of global energy storage. It seeks to foster a global energy storage landscape underpinned by sound markets, a broad range of technologies, industrial collaboration, mutually recognised standards, open, fair, and non-discriminatory international trade, and investment facilitation. Through these efforts, GESA aims to promote energy storage as a core infrastructure of future power systems, providing critical support for climate action, energy transition, and sustainable development.
II. Key Areas of Action
Cultivating Global Dialogue Platforms
Leveraging flagship events including the conferences and expositions of its members across the globe, GESA will facilitate engagement at different levels through both online and offline modalities. Via thematic forums, roundtables, field missions, and expert consultations, GESA will bridge communication between governments, international organisations, research institutions, and industry players. This platform is dedicated to exchanging experiences and best practices regarding supportive policies, market mechanisms, and incentive frameworks, thereby establishing an inclusive, open, and multi-dimensional platform for high-level dialogue.
Building Global Databases and Standard Systems
In coordination with regional industry organisations, GESA will develop voluntary and transparent mechanisms for collecting and sharing aggregated information on energy storage projects, policies, technologies, markets, financing and standards, which will support evidence-based policymaking, investment and market development. Furthermore, GESA will engage with international standards organizations to promote the alignment and mutual recognition of key technical standards.
Strengthening R&D and Dissemination of Frontier Technologies
GESA will reinforce global technological cooperation through joint R&D and demonstration, promoting the commercialisation of diverse technologies—including long-duration, medium-to-short duration, and high-frequency storage. Simultaneously, GESA will foster international R&D collaboration on next-generation storage innovations. GESA will uphold high standard of safety throughout the energy storage life cycle and facilitate knowledge sharing and practices exchange with regard to safety and risk management. By aligning technological deployment with local resource endowments and energy demands, GESA will provide essential support for building modern power systems tailored to national circumstances.
Refining Market Mechanisms and Business Model Innovation
GESA will establish a global platform for dialogue and exchange in market mechanism to ensure that energy storage can participate fairly in various markets and realise its full economic value based on the services it provides in enhancing flexibility, ensuring power supply and strengthening system resilience. In mature markets, focus will remain on optimising power market rules and scaling successful models of energy trading and ancillary services; in emerging markets, GESA will advocate for market designs that reflect the flexibility, regulation capability and value-added contributions of energy storage. We also encourage diversified applications in a wide range of scenarios such as direct green power supply, data centres, and virtual power plants (VPPs) to unlock the multi-faceted commercial potential of energy storage.
Enhancing Supply Chain Coordination and Global Trade
GESA supports to build stable, reliable, resilient and diversified global supply chains of energy storage. Coordinated and internationally connected supply chains are essential to the resilience of global energy storage industries. GESA supports cooperation among regions with complementary industrial strengths, and open, fair and non-discriminatory international trade. Recognising the importance of circular economy and sustainable value chains, GESA will promote circular economy principles across all energy storage technologies.
Facilitating Investment, Financing, and Project Cooperation
GESA is committed to fostering an open, stable, investment-friendly and non-discriminatory investment environment. We encourage increased capital allocation from public, private, and multilateral financial institutions. GESA places emphasis on providing technical assistance, capacity-building, and financial de-risking for projects in developing nations and emerging economies, ensuring the accelerated deployment of energy storage technologies on a global scale.
Energy storage is not merely a strategic contingency for the energy transition but an indispensable cornerstone of it. We call upon all stakeholders dedicated to the advancement of this sector to join GESA. Through a framework defined by synergy, inclusivity, and an action-oriented mandate, we shall harness the full transformative capacity of energy storage to fortify global energy security and realise the goal set in the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Agenda.
List of interested stakeholders of GESA
(The order of listing does not imply any ranking)
I. Co-initiators of the GESA Initiative
Acwa
Beijing HyperStrong Technology Co., Ltd.
BYD Energy Storage
CGN Energy International Holdings Co., Limited
تحالف الصين لتخزين الطاقة
China Huadian Overseas Investment Co., Ltd
China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute
China Southern Power Grid Energy Storage Co., Ltd.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited
Cornex New Energy Co., Ltd
CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Co., Ltd.
Envision Energy
EVE Energy Co., Ltd.
FoxESS Co., Ltd
Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute
Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Nanjing Phoenix Contact Co., Ltd
POWERCHINA International Group Limited
Rept Battero Energy Co., Ltd.
Robestec
Shuangdeng Group Co., Ltd
SPIC Energy Science and Technology Research Institute
Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd.
Trina Energy Storage Solutions (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd.
Xiamen Hithium Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd
Xiamen Kehua Digital Energy Tech Co., Ltd.
Zhongchu Guoneng (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd.
II. Organizations Interested in Exploring the GESA Initiative
Energy Storage Canada
Energy Storage Europe
Hungarian Battery Association
International Hydropower Association
Long Duration Energy Storage Council
Upcell Alliance
World Resources Institute
يُعد معرض ESIE 2027، الذي تنظمه «تحالف الصين لتخزين الطاقة» (CNESA)، منصة دولية رائدة تربط الجهات المعنية بتخزين الطاقة على مستوى العالم بالتقنيات المبتكرة وسلسلة التوريد الصينية. ويجمع المعرض بين قادة القطاع ومزودي التكنولوجيا والمستثمرين والمشترين، مما يعزز الابتكار التكنولوجي والشراكات التجارية والتعاون الدولي بهدف تسريع عملية التحول العالمي في مجال الطاقة.