As more renewable energy comes online, there’s a growing need to balance intermittent supply hitting the energy networks.

Utility-scale battery storage has become the most cost-effective way to manage often unpredictable energy flows from solar and wind farms, ensuring power is available when required while reducing consumer energy pricing.

Across the globe, the overall market for battery energy storage systems (BESS) could reach between $120 billion and $150 billion by 2030, more than double its size today, according to McKinsey. And utility-scale BESS, which are typically more than 10MWh, is expected to grow annually by around 29 percent for the rest of this decade.

“The potential is huge as energy markets reduce reliance on fossil fuels,” says Jay Balasubramanian, JLL’s senior director for sustainability solutions in the U.S, where planned and currently operational utility-scale BESS capacity totaled some 16 GW at the end of 2023, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. This year, developers plan to add another 15 GW.

“Momentum is clearly building among developers and also among investors as they realize energy storage has been the missing piece in the renewable energy puzzle.”

“More storage capacity in a smaller footprint will mean a lower land requirement, which can increase the capacity of project and also open up new areas that previously were deemed to be land constrained, enhancing the potential growth for battery storage,” says Stirling.

While today’s customers of utility-grid BESS installations tend to be utilities, grid operators, and renewable developers, there’s a fast-growing sector which could significantly increase clean energy demand: data centers.

In the next five years, consumers and businesses will generate twice as much data as they did over the past 10 years. Clean energy will be in high demand to fuel this digital world, yet it also faces competing challenges, with global grid infrastructure requiring significant investment, and the rapid growth of energy-intensive electric vehicle infrastructure and advanced manufacturing.

Smaller countries will be feeling the pinch, but the U.S. too is asking questions about securing the clean energy supplies needed, says Balasubramanian.

“Existing capacity is not enough to support the kind of load growth we are experiencing and there is very little new fossil fuel fired generation being developed. This only increases the need for renewables on the grid putting the storing of renewable energy front-and-center,” he adds.

As a result, demand for utility scale BESS is now broadening beyond more developed locations, such as California, to the Midwest. US utility Xcel Energy has deployment plans for the Upper Midwest region, including 3.6GW of renewables and 600MW of energy storage by 2030.

“The likes of California have been growing for many years, but now we’re seeing developers starting to hit Midwest markets. I’d expect more developers to follow the data centers trail,” Balasubramanian says.