According to the latest figures, the US energy storage market set new installation records in the third quarter of 2024 report ‘US Energy Storage Monitor’ released by the American Clean Power Association (ACP) and Wood Mackenzie.
50 MW energy storage system at the Golden Triangle II project in Mississippi. Credit: Origis Energy
This is the highest record for installations in the third quarter, with a total of 3.8 GW and 9.931 GWh deployed – 3,431 MW and 9,188 MWh coming from network-scale deployments.
Deployment of network-scale energy storage in both Texas and California was robust in the third quarter as the two markets continue to embrace storage as a network solution. Texas tripled installations compared to the previous quarter with nearly 1.7 GW added, and California produced the highest gigawatt hours of installations with almost 6 GWh added, thanks to a focus on longer-lived installations. Arizona, Colorado, Florida and Vermont also saw installations in the third quarter, demonstrating the need for network-scale storage across the country.
“We see the energy storage industry across the country meeting a real need to provide reliability to communities in an affordable and efficient way,” said John Hensley, SVP, Markets and Policy Analysis for ACP. “With 64 GW of new energy storage expected over the next four years, the market signal remains clear that energy storage is a critical part of the future electricity grid.”
“The rapid deployment of energy storage we are seeing in the United States is not only improving reliability and affordability, but also fueling economic expansion. This additional storage capacity will help meet increasing energy demands and support growing industries such as manufacturing and data centers,” said Noah Roberts, VP Energy Storage at ACP. “Energy storage is crucial for energy security and to help meet rising demand.”
The residential market has reached an all-time high with a record 346 MW of residential storage installed in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of 63% from the previous quarter. California, Arizona and North Carolina led the growth, installing 56%, 73% and 100% more residential storage in the third quarter than in the second quarter – despite residential battery shortages.
Community-scale commercial and industrial (CCI) remained stable, with 29 MW installed, a slight decrease of 4% from last year’s figures.
The network-scale and residential segments will continue to lead the market, with network-scale installations expected to more than double to a cumulative volume of 63.7 GW by 2028, and residential installing 10 GW of storage over the same period.
“We have seen consistent growth in the market this year, especially in the grid-scale segment,” said Nina Rangel, senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie. “In total, storage installations will grow by 30% in 2024, which will be the industry’s strongest year yet. However, it will be difficult to maintain this pace. Between 2025 and 2028, we expect an annual average growth rate of 10% as early-stage development issues persist.”
Allison Weis, global head of storage at Wood Mackenzie, noted that while consistent growth is expected, there are also some uncertainties surrounding the new presidential administration as changes to certain tax credits and protectionist measures in the form of higher rates could play a role.
“While there could be potential opportunities in a new pricing environment for domestic manufacturers in terms of competition, large shifts in tax incentives or higher rates could outweigh the benefits and impact the development of new projects,” Weis said.
News item from WoodMac