Grid Scale

Wanna see a hockey stick? Click to see what batteries are doing for the grid

Wanna see a hockey stick? Click to see what batteries are doing for the grid
A utility-scale lithium ion battery energy storage system (BESS) installation at Fort Carson in Colorado. Courtesy: Dennis Schroeder / NREL)

If you’re not familiar, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) posts daily informational briefs titled Today in Energy, often accompanied by an interesting graphic.

Today’s is an eye-catcher:

If that isn’t hockey stick growth, I’m not sure what is.

According to the EIA’s latest data, utility-scale battery energy storage systems have exploded as a secondary source of electric power capacity in the United States. Through July 2024, operators added 5 gigawatts (GW) of capacity to the grid, giving us access to more than 20.7 GW total.

By comparison, in 2010, only 4 megawatts of utility-scale battery storage was added. In the entire year. My, how far we’ve come!

The attached batteries provide a range of services to support the grid, including supply and demand, arbitrage, and allowing renewable electricity to be stored until needed rather than curtailing their use. Most utility-scale batteries in the U.S. are lithium-ion.

Including smaller-scale batteries not looped into the EIA brief, the United States added nearly 4 GW of storage capacity in the second quarter of 2024 alone. Total capacity went up 87.3% year-over-year, reaching 23.775 GW by the end of the second quarter, according to an S&P Global Commodity Insights compilation of government filings. Most of the new batteries– 97% of them- ended up in ERCOT, WECC, and CAISO territories. The Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) which includes the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), is projected to climb to 15.838 GW of battery storage capacity by the end of 2024 and surpass 20 GW in 2025, according to the North American Electricity Long-Term Forecast Supplement. ERCOT is expected to hit 7.2 GW in 2024 and surpass 10 GW in 2025.