The US energy storage market installed record capacity the fourth quarter of 2019, deploying 186MW and 364 megawatt hours of storage, according to Wood Mackenzie’s latest data.
According to Wood Mackenzie and the US Energy Storage Association’s ‘US Energy Storage Monitor’ report, the final three months of last year marked the largest-ever quarter for storage deployments across all US market segments.
The front-of-meter (FTM) market “spiked 160% in quarter-over-quarter growth”, with 103.8MW deployed in Q4 2019, accounting for 56% of quarterly deployments, in MW terms, after two consecutive quarters in which it made up less than 50%.
On a MWh basis, the FTM storage sector grew by 44% quarter-over-quarter, with the implied reduction in average duration, due mainly to new projects in PJM Interconnection participating in Reg D with one-hour duration batteries.
The market is expected to expand from an annual deployment of 523MW in 2019 to 7.3GW in 2025, according to Wood Mackenzie’s forecasts.
Additionally, the market’s total size will grow from $712m in 2019 to $4.2bn in 2021 and will reach $7.2bn by 2025, largely driven by utility procurements.
ESA chief executive Kelly Speakes-Backman said: “2019 was a remarkable year for energy storage and the record-breaking fourth quarter numbers reaffirm the industry’s tremendous growth.
“The electricity system of today and tomorrow relies on energy storage expansion, inclusion and integration. To accelerate its resilience, reliability, and economic benefits, it is critical that federal lawmakers enact a standalone federal energy storage tax credit.”
While Massachusetts led the FTM rankings, California came out top in the behind-the-meter (BTM) segment, with the state’s Public Safety Power Shutoffs acting as a “significant driver” of growth for the residential segment.
The non-residential BTM sector recorded its second-strongest quarter on record, with 42.2MW deployed, while the residential market saw another breakthrough quarter, with 40.4MW installed in the final quarter of 2019.