Global Grid Battery Storage Capacity will Likely Reach 134.6 GW by 2030: F&S

As more nations commit to renewable energy, F&S predicts the global grid battery storage capacity to likely reach 134.6 GW by 2030.

Frost & Sullivan’s (F&S) recent analysis on the global grid battery energy storage market finds that the continual expansion of intermittent renewables (RE) and declining technology costs are key factors fuelling the market. As more nations across regions commit to generate over 50 percent of power from renewable energy by 2030 and modernise their regulations to accommodate flexible assets, the global grid battery storage capacity will likely reach 134.6 GW by 2030 from 8.5 GW annual capacity additions in 2020. 

As a result, the market is estimated to reach USD 15.94 billion by the end of the decade from USD 2 billion in 2020, an uptick at an impressive compound annual growth rate of 23 percent.

“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, Energy & Environment Research Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “Additionally, the increasing power demand and generation assets distant from consumption centres necessitate transmission grid reinforcement and optimisation. Batteries offer an attractive option in handling the evolving electrification issues, sparing massive investments in new transmission grids.”

Benintende added “Asia—led by China—and North America—led by the US—are anticipated to be the leading regions, accounting for 46.2 percent and 32.4 percent, 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 modernisation of market designs. Europe’s participation is likely to fall from 25.6 percent in 2020 to 13.3 percent 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, the report highlighted a series of growth opportunities. Market participants should consider the following:

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 optimisation: Hybridisation 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.