Bloomberg New Energy Finance projects that utility-scale batteries will be as widespread as rooftop solar by 2028.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) expects 25 GW of battery devices to be deployed by 2028. According to Bloomberg storage analyst, Julia Attwood, “Batteries could offer a whole range of services to the grid — they have the flexibility that will allow renewables a larger stake in energy generation.”
The advent of an energy storage industry would help resolve the problems of relying on mother nature for power – wind and solar plants don’t work in calm weather or at night, creating a need for baseload supplies to fill the gaps. Also the spread of electric cars is driving demand for lithium-ion batteries and as manufacturers scale up production and slash costs, technology that costs $300 a kWh today could cost $120 by 2030. Energy storage is now a fledgling industry; 95 percent of the world’s grid-connected energy storage today is still pumped hydro, according to the U.S. Energy Department, but by 2040 the industry will be storing and discharging 759 GWh. “Utility-scale storage is the new emerging market for batteries, kind of where electric vehicles were five years ago,” said Simon Moores, managing director at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a battery researcher based in London. “EVs are now coming of age.”
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2016/06/energy-storage-market-to-equal-rooftop-solar-by-2028.html?cmpid=renewablestorage06162016&eid=312063053&bid=1434888
