Energy Storage Installation Charges Upward 3.4 GW in 3Q: Wood Mac & ACP Report
Residential installation of battery storage charged to an all-time high of 346 MW in the third quarter, according to the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report by the American Clean Power Association and research firm Wood Mackenzie.
Residential adoption of energy storage for the three months ending October 31 trended 63% higher than the previous quarter. Residential energy storage helps customers achieve at-home resiliency by helping smooth out the intermittency of rooftop solar.
California, Arizona and North Carolina led the upward move of residential energy storage, according to the Monitor report.
Community, commercial and industrial battery storage installation was steady if not elevated. C&I and community energy storage deployment totaled 29 MW, only 4% less than the same quarter in 2023, the report summary showed.
Solar and storage are utilized as key assets in the decarbonization of microgrids and on-site power, in general. Overall, throughout the U.S. the energy storage market set a new quarterly record with more than 3.4 GW (3,431 MW) and 9,188 MWh in capacity deployed, the report by ACP and Wood Mackenzie indicated.
Texas installed 1.7 GW in battery storage, triple the pace of the previous quarter.
Microgrid Knowledge Conference 2025 will be in Texas
Industry Best Content on Microgrids, VPPs and On-Site Power
“The rapid energy storage deployment we’re seeing in the United States not only enhances reliability and affordability but also drives economic expansion. This additional storage capacity is helping meet increasing energy demand and is supporting growing industries like manufacturing and data centers,” said Noah Roberts, ACP’s VP of Energy Storage, in a statement. “Energy storage is crucial for energy security and to help outpace rising demand.”
Battery storage is increasingly a key point of interconnection with renewables at numerous on-site power projects recently covered in Microgrid Knowledge. From commercial projects as small as Best Contracting Services’ 264-kW solar-storage combo at its California HQ to the new 1.5-MW/3.3-MWh battery added to the military microgrid at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, the complementary and compounding value of energy storage is growing in physical projects installed.
The California Energy Commission this week approved a $42 million grant to fund a long-duration energy storage project at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego. Billions in research and investment are aiming for non-lithium energy storage chemistries such as sodium-ion, zinc-based and iron-flow technologies.
“We are seeing the energy storage industry fill a real need across the country to provide reliability in an affordable and efficient manner for communities,” said John Hensley, senior vice president, Markets and Policy Analysis for ACP. “With 64 GW of new energy storage expected in the next four years, the market signal continues to be clear that energy storage is a critical component of the grid moving forward.”
Utility-scale battery storage also is balancing massive solar power projects nationwide. In October, Danish multinational energy developer Ørsted and Arizona utility Salt River Project (SRP) commissioned the Eleven Mile Solar Center, a 300 MW solar project and 300 MW/1200 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Pinal County to provide power to businesses, homes and Meta's data center in nearby Mesa.
Market Research Future reported that the energy storage battery for microgrid market could double by 2032 to $50 billion in aggregated value. The record adoption of solar power in the U.S. can help drive added battery investment to improve duration of carbon-free energy resources.
