In the next five years, the global lithium battery energy storage system will grow by 55% every year

Nowadays, people in the industry have reached a broad consensus that the world will deploy more grid-level energy storage systems in the next few years, but few people know how much capacity will be deployed.

In a survey report recently released by industry media GTMResearch, a new prediction is put forward: the deployment capacity of global lithium-ion battery energy storage systems will increase by 55% every year in the next five years. In other words, the lithium-ion battery energy storage system will increase from 2 gigawatt-hours in 2017 to 18 gigawatt-hours in 2022, an increase of more than eight times.

This growth started on a very small basis. In contrast, electric vehicle sales generated 112 gigawatt-hours of batteries in 2017 alone. demand. However, as the annual growth rate reaches 55%, grid-level energy storage systems will be sufficient to improve and change the performance of global electrical systems.

The United States will continue to lead the deployment of battery energy storage systems, followed by China, Japan and Australia. U.S. states are investing in early battery energy storage projects, market reforms and energy storage regulations, and will produce greater results in the next few years.

Although U.S. grid planning varies greatly from state to state, this pioneering work has enabled states to follow up faster and more effectively. Concentration policies formulated by countries such as China and South Korea can allow the rapid development of battery energy storage systems.

A series of interrelated trends make it possible to accelerate the deployment of battery energy storage systems. The market demand for electric vehicle batteries has stimulated the large-scale expansion of battery production facilities, thereby reducing the cost of batteries for grid applications.

At the same time, laboratory research on related technologies continues to increase energy density by using the best combination of anode, cathode and electrolyte materials. Once electric cars have been on the road for many years, the waste batteries they produce will become cheap second-hand stationary battery energy storage equipment.

So far, the cost of energy storage systems has limited its use on the grid, except in a few special circumstances. As costs drop sharply, its broader use cases will become attractive. In the same period, the growth trend of wind energy and solar energy will increase the asset value of energy storage systems.

The problem then becomes the impact of the influx of battery energy storage systems on the rest of the grid.

For example, Australia’s first large-scale battery energy storage system has reduced prices in its critical grid service market. According to a research report released last year, by 2025, battery energy storage systems deployed in Australia will begin to replace new and existing natural gas power plants, and then begin to challenge natural gas power plants that can generate large amounts of electricity before 2035.

California state legislators plan to completely phase out electricity produced by fossil fuels by 2045. In this case, battery energy storage system manufacturers will definitely become the main providers of flexible capacity. supplier.

Whether the deployment and cost reduction of battery energy storage systems can help decarbonization work without expending a lot of costs is another matter, but this trend is at least Pointed in the right direction.