U.S. grid-scale energy storage market breaks record in 2022 first quarter

The U.S. energy storage market saw the highest capacity for the first quarter on record in 2022, according to the American Clean Powers (ACP) Association’s latest report.

According to the ACP’s U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report released Wednesday, the U.S. energy storage market saw grid-scale installations totaling 2,399 megawatt hours – four times the volume seen in 2021’s first quarter. The volume increase was especially significant given continued procurement difficulties and project delays, the report said.

“Quarter one of 2022 was the largest first quarter on record by far for grid-scale installations, a notable milestone since installations are typically back-weighted to the second half of the year. The West Coast and Southwest regions continue to dominate for both standalone and hybrid systems,” said Vanessa Witte, senior analyst with Wood Mackenzie’s energy storage team.

Despite the growth, the report said, near-term risks for the grid-scale market remain. Market disruption from the anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) solar tariff investigation started by the U.S. Department of Commerce in March lowered projections for hybrid projects in 2022 and, to a lesser extent, into 2023, as procurement stalled, the report said.

“The Biden Administration’s recent decision to pause AD/CVD solar tariffs for two years restores predictability to both the solar and energy storage markets. With well over 50% of utility storage projects being paired with solar farms, this important executive action will help the energy storage market continue to accelerate,” said John Hensley, Vice President of Research and Analytics at ACP.

The report said that residential storage also had a strong quarter with 334 MWh installed in Q1, beating the previous quarterly record of 283 MWh in 2021’s fourth quarter.