Growth of grid-tied storage to rival solar’s recent trajectory in upcoming decade
Falling battery costs and expanding applications is fueling a boom in energy storage, which several analysts have likened to solar power growth spurt over the last several years.
“Energy storage is set to grow as fast as solar photovoltaic energy has in recent years, sparking strong interest from a wide range of players and underscored by recent mergers and acquisitions among car manufacturers, major oil and gas companies, and conventional power suppliers,” Marianne Boust, a principal at IHS said in a statement.
IHS sees falling lithium-ion battery costs as a driving factor behind the global growth of energy storage. In a report from last year, the consulting firm noted that li-ion prices fell 53% between 2012 and 2015 and said that by 2019, they would decline by half again.
In its most recent report, IHS see the U.S. and Japan as the largest markets for energy storage, generating one-third of market revenues.
IHS forecasts that half of all energy storage installations will occur behind the meter, driven by self-consumption and back-up needs.
