Solar

The U.S. battery energy storage boom is just getting started

The U.S. battery energy storage boom is just getting started
(The Crimson Energy Storage project entered service in October 2022. Credit: BLM/Canadian Solar)

New analysis of large-scale battery storage deployments in the U.S. in 2022 underscores an industry in the midst of rapid growth. The outlook for the next few years suggests that the boom is just getting started.

Project developers energized a record 4,221 MW of large-scale battery storage capacity last year, an increase of 29% from 2021, according to the analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Only about 42% of planned capacity additions came online in 2022.

Stand-alone storage projects accounted for 54% of that capacity, while 46% was co-located with new and existing power plants.

But the otherwise banner year for the battery storage industry closed with a lackluster fourth quarter.

Fourth-quarter additions fell 41.5% from a year earlier to 895 MW, S&P said. That was a nearly 43% drop from the third quarter of 2022.

Delayed projects can be attributed to persistent supply chain constraints and interconnection challenges. Some projects may have also been pushed to take advantage of new incentives for standalone energy storage projects in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Over the next five years, planned projects total nearly 62 GW, including almost 22 GW in each of the next two years.

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California and Texas remain the hottest markets for battery storage facility deployment, due to market signals and extreme weather concerns.

Entering 2023, California leads the U.S. with 5,071 MW of installed large-scale power storage capacity. It was followed by Texas with 2,185 MW and Florida with 546 MW, according to Market Intelligence data.

The 350 MW/1,400 MWh Crimson Battery Storage Project in Riverside County, Calif., was the largest battery storage facility commissioned in the U.S. in 2022. The project is owned by the private equity firm Axium Infrastructure and Recurrent Energy, an affiliate of Canadian Solar. The project is under contract with Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric.

NextEra deployed several major battery storage projects in Riverside County last year: a 230 MW/920 MWh at its Desert Sunlight 300 solar farm, as well as the 132 MW/528 MWh and 110 MW/440 MWh phases at their Arlington solar and battery complex.

In Texas, Vistra Corp. added a 260 MW/260 MWh battery array at its Decordova CT natural gas-fired plant in Hood County. And Jupiter Power LLC commissioned its 200-MW/200-MWh Crossett Power Battery Storage in Crane County.

DeCordova Energy Storage Facility provides 260 MW of dispatchable, instant-start, emission-free power; expands company’s portfolio of zero-carbon generation facilities and reliability in ERCOT. (Courtesy: Vistra)