Market research company Navigant Research has indicated that North America remains the largest market for newly announced energy storage systems.
An estimated 1,997.3 MW of new ESSs have been announced worldwide in 2016 so far, with around 15.8% coming from North America.
However, whether the new US president-elect Donald Trump, who pledged to increase investments in fossil fuels, dims the bright future of the US renewable ESS market remains to be seen.
Navigant showed energy storage market is growing, with renewables integration and behind-the-meter systems becoming economically attractive, resulting in new geographic markets continuing to open up.
Of the new ESSs announced in 2016 so far, lithium-ion batteries remain the leading chemistry for new projects worldwide, accounting for 83% of new ESS deployment through the third quarter of 2016.
Distributed energy storage system (DESS) has the highest record of any year, accounting for around 14% of new system capacity in 2016.
Ian McClenny, research associate with Navigant Research, said: “DESSs are generally much smaller than utility-scale systems and are expected to thrive as they become more cost-effective and productised, leading to more streamlined installation and opening new markets.”
Also notable within the market is the increase in announced projects using flow batteries and hybrid battery systems.
