US energy storage use grows 200 percent in second quarter

Bolstered by a surge in the residential sector, the energy storage deployments in the United States have grown 200 percent over the year, and have made for a record-setting second quarter.

Home energy storage deployment surpassed that of front-of-meter storage for the first time in a single quarter. Residential deployment grew tenfold, helping overall energy storage reach 156.5-megawatt hours deployed, reflecting triple the amount that was implemented in the second quarter of 2017. Residential deployment was most heavily concentrated in California and Hawaii, which together accounted for 72 percent of megawatt-hours on the quarter.

“So far in 2018, 24 states and the District of Columbia have taken some form of regulatory or legislative policy action with respect to energy storage, with even more states poised to do so in 2019,” Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of the Energy Storage Association (ESA), said. “The industry is bullish about continued state action designed to ensure fair and equal access for storage to the grid and markets, to enable competition in all grid planning and procurements, and to capture the full value of energy storage. As these barriers to storage are removed in state markets, we will likely see new state names on the leaderboards for residential, non-residential, and front-of-the-meter deployments.”

A joint report from the ESA and Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables noted that customers are increasingly interested in self-consumption and resilience options, and these will continue to fuel growth, though probably not to the same level as seen this term.

Beyond the residential segment, non-residential experienced its best quarter, at 48 megawatt-hours deployed, while front-of-meter saw 51 megawatt-hours implemented.