SEIA Envisions To Install 700 GWh ESS Across US By 2030

BESS Project

US solar body Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has unveiled a target for the U.S. to deploy 10 million distributed storage installations and reach 700 gigawatt-hours (GWh). These targets are part of a new whitepaper that analyzes the economic and energy security imperative of the storage sector.

SEIA has also set sub-targets for residential, community, and grid-scale storage adoption. By 2030, it expects 20% of all storage installations to occur in the residential, commercial, and community segments and 80% of storage installations to occur in the transmission-connected segment. The distributed storage targets equate to around 10 million installations or 140 GWh. The bulk of the target will likely be met by grid-scale storage, at 560 GWh by 2030.  

According to Wood Mackenzie, there is an existing 83 GWh of installed energy storage capacity in the United States, including nearly 500,000 distributed storage installations. Current forecasts show that U.S. storage capacity is expected to reach 450 GWh by 2030, falling short of the capacity required to support our nation’s energy needs. The whitepaper calls on states, regional transmission organizations, and the federal government to take action to accelerate storage deployment and manufacturing.

These actions include:

• Preserving the federal tax credit for standalone storage
• Ensuring equal grid access and fair compensation to storage for grid services
• Reforming interconnection processes to account for storage flexibility
• Establishing affordable retail rates for storage charging
• Supporting domestic manufacturing with targeted trade policies and streamlined permitting
• Implementing state-level procurement programs
• Emphasizing investments in low-income communities, including areas disproportionately impacted by extreme weather and poor air quality
• Investing in further development of long-duration storage

“The U.S. storage market is at an inflection point, but with the mix of policy support and private, state, and federal collaboration, we can achieve SEIA’s storage targets while creating jobs and ensuring reliable, around-the-clock power for every home and business in this county,” said Joan White, SEIA’s director of storage and interconnection.

“Expanding energy storage capacity is a crucial means of ensuring our nation’s energy security and resilience,” said SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. “As demand for energy soars, storage helps turn quick-to-build, low-cost solar generation into clean, dispatchable power, ensuring our grid can adapt to challenges, support critical infrastructure, and deliver reliable power to every community.”