US set deployment record with 2,156 megawatt-hours of new energy storage systems in Q4 2020

Published on March 05, 2021 by Chris Galford


Warning: Undefined variable $post_id in /var/www/dailyenergyinsider.com/wp-content/themes/dei/single.php on line 31

Warning: Undefined variable $post_id in /var/www/dailyenergyinsider.com/wp-content/themes/dei/single.php on line 36
© Shutterstock

Despite a pandemic, lockdowns, and the onset of winter, 2020 ended on a record note for the energy storage industry, which the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor reports brought 2,156 megawatt-hours of new storage systems online in the fourth quarter.

According to Wood Mackenzie and the ESA, that figure increased over the previous quarter by 182 percent, buoyed by tumbling prices and collapsing barriers to deployment. This meant great news for front-of-the-meter storage in particular, which represented four out of every five MW deployed in Q4. Out of 651 MW, that segment represented 529 MW; the bulk of this focused in California.

“2020 is the first year that advanced energy storage deployments surpassed gigawatt scale – a tremendous milestone on the path to our aspiration of 100 GW by 2030,” Jason Burwen, U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) Interim CEO, said. “With continuing storage cost declines and growing policy support and regulatory reform in states and the federal government, energy storage is on an accelerating trajectory to enable a resilient, decarbonized, and affordable electric grid for all.”

In contrast to FTM, other storage segments made smaller but still significant growth: 90.1 MW for residential storage and 76.5 MWh for non-residential.

When pulling out to annual figures, 2020 brought 1,464 MW and 3,487 MWh of new storage online in the United States, representing 179 percent more storage in 2020 than in 2019. The partners guiding this report also predicted that the U.S. storage market will grow by five times what it added last year in 2025. FTM is expected to continue dominating this, representing 75-85 percent of new MW each year.

“This is the hallmark of a market beginning to accelerate exponentially, and momentum will only increase over the coming years,” Dan Finn-Foley, Wood Mackenzie Head of Energy Storage, said. “The new largest battery in the world, the 300 MW / 1,200 MWh system newly installed at Moss Landing, likely won’t hold the title for long.”