Energy Storage  -  June 10, 2021

US Energy Storage Deployments Saw Record-Breaking Q1

The U.S. had its largest quarter so far for energy storage deployments, representing a 252% increase Q1 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.

A new report by Wood Mackenzie and the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) found that 910 MWh of new energy storage systems were brought online in Q1 2021. This followed a previous record-setting quarter for deployments in Q4 2020. 

The “U.S. Energy Storage Monitor” report suggests that deployments are expected to dramatically accelerate throughout the rest of the year, with a forecasted 12,000 MWh of new storage to be added in 2021. That’s three times the amount added in 2020.

“It’s clear that the energy storage market is poised for tremendous growth in 2021 and beyond,” said Jason Burwen, ESA interim CEO. “The ‘Storage Decade’ is upon us with the convergence of a transforming power and transportation system, and the growing need for decarbonisation and resilience.”

U.S. residential storage set another quarterly record in Q1 2021, and broke 100 MW deployed in a single quarter for the first time following nine quarters of market growth. These trends have been driven by increased interest in backup power for residential rooftop solar systems in all U.S. markets.

A key aspect of energy storage growth in Q1 was the introduction of the storage investment tax credit in Congress. This stand-alone ITC could cause a 20-25% increase to projected MW growth.

“An extra 20 to 25% growth for the US market over the next five years would supercharge an already fast-growing energy storage market,” Chloe Holden, energy storage analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said in a statement. “The front-of-the-meter (FTM) segment would see the largest incremental growth, with an extra 6 GW of capacity expected through 2025, which is 25% of our base case market forecast. Without the stand-alone storage ITC, we forecast that the FTM segment will add 3,674 MW in 2021 and 6,915 MW in 2026.”

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