Global grid battery storage capacity to grow to 135GW by 2030 from 8GW in 2020

The global grid battery energy storage market will see continual expansion of intermittent renewables and declining technology costs are key factors fueling the market, according to a recent report by Frost & Sullivan, a California-based business consulting firm involved in market research and analysis, titled “Electricity Market Modernization and Cost Reductions Powering the Global Grid Battery Energy Storage Market.”

As more nations across regions commit to generate over 50% of power from renewable energy by 2030 and modernize their regulations to accommodate flexible assets, the global grid battery storage capacity will likely reach 134.6GW by 2030 from 8.5GW annual capacity additions in 2020. As a result, the market is estimated to reach $15.94 billion by the end of the decade from $2 billion in 2020, an uptick at an impressive compound annual growth rate of 23%.

“With climate change and environmental sustainability at the center of national agendas, battery storage systems deployment is crucial to support the transition to higher levels of clean electrification relying primarily on variable renewable energy sources,” said Maria Benintende, an energy & environment research analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “Additionally, the increasing power demand and generation assets distant from consumption centers necessitate transmission grid reinforcement and optimization. Batteries offer an attractive option in handling the evolving electrification issues, sparing massive investments in new transmission grids.”

Asia, led by China and North America and led by the U.S., are anticipated to be the leading regions, accounting for 46.2% and 32.4%, respectively, of the total grid battery storage power capacity by 2030. Opportunities in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East will remain limited, pending further cost reductions and modernization of market designs. Europe’s participation is likely to fall from 25.6% in 2020 to 13.3% by 2030 because of the saturation of frequency regulation markets and the lack of a business case for other applications.

Within the global grid battery energy storage market, Frost & Sullivan highlights a series of growth opportunities:

• Solar photovoltaic (PV)-plus-storage: Already a reality in the US, with further prices decline for PV and batteries and upcoming regulations permitting hybrids in wholesale electricity markets, solar-plus-storage plants will be a major business opportunity for battery storage across the globe.
• Co-located storage for conventional generation optimization: Hybridization of thermal power plants, and even hydropower plants, with storage is an emerging and attractive niche. System integrators and OEMs should assess this business opportunity to expand their project scopes and diversify businesses in line with energy transition trends.
• Adjustable storage to leverage evolving regulation and market conditions: Product and systems design should be focused on scalable configurations that can be easily augmented in size and energy to power ratio and combined and aggregated behind a single power control system (PCS) to serve future potential applications with minimum disruption.
• Optimization services for merchant battery storage: Powerful software combined with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced price forecasting is vital for storage owners' and operators’ merchant strategy success.