Published: 9 Jun 2021, 09:56
By:
Andy Colthorpe
AES Alamitos 100MW / 400MWh battery project in California officially went online on the first day of 2021. Image: AES Corporation.
Nearly 12,000MWh of energy storage could be installed in the US during 2021 and the market will continue growing significantly over the next few years, according to research and analysis group Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables.
The forecast has been provided in Wood Mackenzie’s latest quarterly ‘US energy storage monitor’ report, which is published in partnership with the industry’s national Energy Storage Association (ESA). Along with that massive figure for this year Wood Mackenzie in March said that 2020 deployments were about 1,500MW / 3,500MWh the group is predicting that by 2026 the US will be a 33GWh annual market, worth around US$8.5 billion.
Working from home can mean surprise energy bills. Green power can help. By Irina Ivanova Solar panel installations are on the rise
Many people working from home during the pandemic have gotten a rude surprise: higher energy bills. But improvements in technology and a last-minute tax credit extension is making it easier for homeowners to save by retrofitting their house, adding new sources of power or even creating a backup energy system. Because a lot of us are working from home, we re consuming more energy and people are investing a lot more to improve their homes, said Vikram Aggarwal, CEO of EnergySage, an online marketplace that lets users compare solar installation services and costs.
Dive Brief:
President Joe Biden s $1.52 trillion budget request for Fiscal Year 2022 includes a policy making standalone energy storage projects eligible for the federal investment tax credit (ITC), a move that advocates say will unleash new capital for renewable energy. The budget request also included new spending on storage as part of the administration s goal to decarbonize the energy sector by 2035.
Biden s $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, known as the American Jobs Plan, also included the storage ITC proposal along with $100 billion in power grid investments.
A Treasury Department report released last week stated that expanding tax incentives for storage would help put the country on a path to 100% clean electricity by 2035 and help ensure that the electricity supply is reliable as well as less harmful to the climate.
Scientific American
Blackouts due to wildfires and wild weather are prompting action
Advertisement
The energy storage industry is shattering records for battery deployments, underscoring its growing role in decarbonizing the economy.
In the last three months of 2020, nearly 2.2 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy storage systems were put into operation, according to the energy data firm Wood Mackenzie. That’s an increase of 182% from the previous record-setting quarter.
The blockbuster fourth quarter capped a year that saw a total of 3.5 GWh installed more than the 3.1 GWh that went into operation in the previous six years combined. That torrid growth has industry boosters and researchers feeling very bullish about the prospects for energy storage.