The energy storage industry will soar in the next decade.
Growth drivers of the energy storage industry
The strong demand for both grid-connected and off-grid products and systems will send the energy-storage industry through the roof. Steady two-figure growth rates will make it a multi-billion industry in less than ten years.
The increasing share of renewable energy sources in the electricity grid will be responsible for much of the growth of grid-scale energy storage; rising fuel prices will hike the off-grid segment.
Current centralized, supply-based grids do not work well with unpredictable, intermittent sources of power, such as wind and solar. As the renewables’ share in the power mix grows, grid-connected, large-scale energy storage systems will emerge as essential backup solutions.
Large-scale energy storage systems
The choice of technologies to store energy on a large scale in the grid is very diverse. Some of the technologies are well-known and tried, like hydro storage, compressed air or lead acid batteries. Others are newer and developing fast, like supercapacitors or Lithium-ion batteries.
Pumped hydro storage is by far the prevalent energy storage method. In 2011 it accounted for almost 90% of the 152 GW installed energy-storage capacity worldwide.
Batteries are the fastest growing segment in energy storage
Batteries are becoming more reliable, cheaper and better suited for storage systems connected to the grid. We will increasingly see industrial energy storage systems based on Li-ion batteries, molten salt and flow batteries. Vanadium redox, sodium sulfur and Lithium-ion batteries represent already today realistic alternatives for decentralized applications.
Off-grid energy solutions
In the off-grid side, small installations like telecom towers, street lights or highway tolls offer great growth opportunities for energy storage systems – systems made of a solar panel and a battery can replace the ubiquitous diesel generators. At a much larger scale, off-grid energy storage systems also provide solutions for remote places like the island Graciosa shows.
How Apricum can support your energy-storage strategy
We add up decade-long experience in energy storage.
Contact us to get a full understanding of the energy storage industry and find out how we can work together to develop a comprehensive energy-storage strategy for your business: from assessing technologies, products and markets to developing sourcing plans, finding the right partners or designing go-to-market strategies.