U.S. energy storage market reached second-highest quarterly deployment ever in Q2 2020

Topped only by the fourth quarter of the last year, the U.S. energy storage sector deployed 168 MW in the second quarter of 2020, according to the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report from Wood Mackenzie and the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA).

The bulk of this came from a front-of-meter project brought partially online in California. It accounted for more than two-thirds of the total FTM MW deployed and launched the state’s contributions back to the forefront of deployment, where it is expected to remain. Total, the U.S. FTM market grew by more than four times its size in the first quarter, and a record quarter for residential storage deployments was achieved, demonstrating that even COVID-19 lockdowns haven’t slowed efforts.

“We are encouraged by the growth the energy storage market has seen this quarter,” Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of ESA, said. “Despite any setbacks from the coronavirus pandemic, the market for energy storage is poised to see significant growth in 2020. Looking out to future growth, we are confident that our expanded vision of 100 GW of new energy storage by 2030 is entirely reasonable and attainable, pushing us closer to reaching a more resilient, efficient, sustainable, and affordable electric grid.”

Despite this, the non-residential market took a heavier hit during the pandemic. For the second quarter in a row, the segment experienced declines in deployment, falling by 7 percent to just 29.5 MW. Its only saving grace was surging installations in Massachusetts, furthering concerns by the authors that coronavirus impacts may be felt through the fourth quarter of this year.

Still, they expect the sector to finish strong.

“The US energy storage market has proven remarkably resilient to impacts from coronavirus lockdowns,” Dan Finn-Foley, Wood Mackenzie Head of Energy Storage, said. “The commercial and industrial (C&I) space was the only segment that showed a slowdown. This was primarily because of a decline in the C&I California market due to permitting and other delays. We expect the rest of the year to come in strong as growing interest in residential storage, emerging new markets for C&I and massive FTM systems are set to break quarterly records.”

Indeed, the quarter’s deployments represented a 72 percent increase quarter-over-quarter and 117 percent year-over-year. Wood Mackenzie and ESA predict the U.S. energy storage market to grow more than sevenfold by 2025 when compared against 2020.