Energy storage sees significant growth as more utilities include it in long-term plans

on December 13, 2017

energy storage utility diveEnergy storage deployments are growing rapidly, propelled by regulatory action, improving economics and utility moves to include the resource in their long-term planning. 

A total of 41.8 MW of energy storage projects were deployed in the third quarter, marking a 46% year-over-year increase from third quarter 2016, according to the latest Energy Storage Monitor from GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association.

There were also 10% more energy storage deployments in the third quarter than in the second quarter, which saw a total of 38.2 MW deployed, the report said.

Utility-scale projects lead

Utility-scale projects led the market in the third quarter, with a single 30 MW storage project in Texas accounting for about two-thirds of the quarter’s total. That also resulted in behind-the-meter installations taking a smaller share of the market, 26%, in the third quarter, compared with 42% in the second quarter.

In terms of duration, deployments dropped quarter over quarter as many utility scale projects had discharge durations of less than one hour. There were 42.5 MWh of energy storage projects deployed in the third quarter, a 5% increase year-over-year, but a 17% decline compared with the second quarter.

The Texas project put the Lone Star state at the top of the list for utility-scale deployments for the quarter. California topped the list for the non-residential market with 6.5 MW of deployments, and for the residential market with 1.87 MW of deployments. Hawaii ranked second in residential deployments in the quarter with 1.21 MW of projects and was third in non-residential deployments with 5 kW.

GTM expects a total of 295 MW of energy storage to be deployed in 2017, a 28% increase from the 231 MW deployed in 2016.

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Utility DiveEnergy storage sees significant growth as more utilities include it in long-term plans