Renewable energy grid-scale storage more flexible, cost-effective – report

New energy storage deployments in Asia Pacific’s major markets expected to total nearly 37 GW from 2015 to 2025

Alex Eller, Navigant Research

BOULDER, Colo. – A new report from Navigant Research finds that while costs remain one of the largest hurdles to grid-tied energy storage systems industry’s growth, declining prices are helping to move the technology into diverse geographic markets.

The report examines the market for grid-tied energy storage systems (ESSs) in 22 countries, with forecasts for power capacity, energy capacity, and revenue, segmented by technology, through 2025.

Because energy storage is quickly becoming a flexible and cost-effective tool for users to control energy costs and for grid operators to manage network instability, several countries are projected to see substantial growth in deployments in the coming decade, with five country-level markets in Asia Pacific expected to experience the largest increases globally.

“As the industry expands, different countries are expected to rely on different mixes of energy storage technologies and applications best suited to serve the needs of their local electricity grids,” says Alex Eller, research associate with Navigant Research.

“As expected individual market leaders for energy storage, the United States and China are projected to have a more balanced mix of utility-scale and distributed storage deployments, while other countries are likely to heavily favor one application.”

Solar PV costs are dropping rapidly.

The increasing amount of variable renewable energy generation being deployed in major markets worldwide, primarily solar photovoltaic and wind energy, is also driving interest in grid-tied energy storage technologies, according to the report.

Despite their advantages, however, these variable forms of generation are also presenting new challenges to the electrical grid.

The report, Country Forecasts for Grid-Tied Energy Storage, analyzes the capacity and revenue of grid-tied energy storage systems that will be deployed in major markets around the world.

The forecasts cover both utility-scale and distributed energy storage applications for the nine most popular technologies in each country. This study also examines the key factors contributing to the opportunities for energy storage in the 22 major countries profiled.

Country-level forecasts for power capacity, energy capacity, and revenue by technology extend through 2025. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the Navigant Research website.