Battery Storage in the United States: An Update on Market Trends

Summary

Battery Storage in the United States: An Update on Market Trends Release date: July 15, 2020 Large-scale battery storage systems are increasingly being used across the power grid in the United States. In 2010, 7 battery storage systems accounted for only 59 megawatts (MW) of power capacity, the maximum amount of power output a battery can provide in any instant, in the United States. By 2015, 49 systems accounted for 351 MW of power capacity. This growth continued at an increased rate for the next three years, and the total number of operational battery storage systems has more than doubled to 125 for a total of 869 MW of installed power capacity as of the end of 2018. This report explores trends in battery storage capacity additions in the United States and describes the state of the market as of 2018, including information on applications, cost, ongoing trends, and market and policy drivers. These observations consider both power capacity and energy capacity, the total amount of energy that can be stored by a battery system. Some key observations are as follows: At the end of 2018, 869 megawatts (MW) of power capacity,[1] representing 1,236 megawatthours (MWh) of energy capacity,[2] of large- scale[3] battery storage was in operation in the United States. Over 90% of large-scale battery storage power capacity in the United States was provided by batteries based on lithium-ion chemistries. About 73% of large-scale battery storage power capacity in the Unites States, representing 70% of energy capacity, was installed in states covered by independent system operators (ISOs) or regional transmission organizations (RTOs). Alaska and Hawaii, with comparatively smaller electrical systems that account for 1% of total grid capacity in the United States, accounted for 12% of the power capacity in 2018, or 14% of large-scale battery energy capacity. Historically,