US battery storage expected to ‘nearly double’ this year
California and Texas dominate when it comes to both installed and planned capacity of battery energy storage systems
US battery storage capacity is expected to nearly double over the course of this year if developers bring all new planned systems online, according to a government agency.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Tuesday that planned and currently operational US utility-scale battery capacity totalled around 16GW at the end of 2023.
Developers plan to add another 15GW in 2024, it said, which would increase capacity by 89% if this is all brought online.
“Two states with rapidly growing wind and solar generating fleets account for the bulk of the capacity additions,” it said.
“California has the most installed battery storage capacity of any state, with 7.3GW, followed by Texas with 3.2GW.”
The EIA noted that the rollout of battery storage has been supported by the “rapid growth of variable solar and wind capacity”.
Battery storage projects are also "getting larger," said the EIA, with the largest currently the 750MW Moss Landing facility in California owned by Vistra Energy.
Developers expect to bring more than 300 utility-scale battery storage projects online in the US by 2025, it said, with around half of those in Texas.
The five largest new battery storage projects that are scheduled to be deployed in California and Texas in 2024 or 2025 are range from 443MW to 621MW in capacity.