Battery storage capacity will nearly double in the US this year thanks in part to the incentives provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), according to the department of energy’s data agency, the EIA.
Developers plan to add 14.3GW of battery storage capacity to the grid in 2024, which would take total installations to nearly 30GW.
Texas and California are leading the charge, the EIA notes. One of the largest projects in the pipeline, the 460MW Menifee Power Bank in California, is being built at the site of a former gas-fired power plant.
“With the rise of solar and wind capacity in the US, the demand for battery storage continues to increase,” the EIA says, adding that the IRA is speeding things up.
The flagship climate package includes investment tax credits for stand-alone storage projects. Previously, batteries could only qualify for federal tax credits if they were co-located with solar plants.
A solar boom: Solar will account for the bulk (58%) of the 62.8GW of new utility-scale electricity generation and storage capacity added in 2024, according to the EIA’s assessment.
“As the effects of supply chain challenges and trade restrictions ease, solar continues to outpace capacity additions from other generating resources.”
The wind sector, meanwhile, will see a slowdown, with only 8.2GW of capacity scheduled to come online this year, down from a high of 14GW in 2021.
But things are worse for the gas-to-power industry, with just 2.5GW of new capacity set to connect to the grid in 2024 — the least in 25 years.
No new nuclear plants will come online, but the fourth reactor of the Vogtle plant is scheduled for completion in March.
Looking forward: The US government plans to get to 80% renewable-based electricity by 2030, and a 100% carbon-free power system by 2035.
But much work needs to be done to get there. In 2024, fossil gas will likely hold a 42% share of the electricity mix, followed by renewables at 24%, nuclear at 19%, and coal at 15%, according to previous estimates by the EIA.
Tags: Battery storage, Renewables, Solar, Wind power
