US adds cumulative 3.8 GW in Q3, residential battery storage hits all-time high

The United States’ residential energy storage market set an all-time quarterly growth record, with 346 MW of residential storage installed in the third quarter of 2024. This is a 63% increase over the previous quarter.

The growth was led by California, Arizona, and North Carolina. They installed 56%, 73%, and 100% more residential storage in quarter three than in quarter two respectively – despite residential battery supply shortages.

These figures come from the latest edition of the US Energy Storage Monitor. The report was released by Wood Mackenzie and the American Clean Power Association (ACP).

The United States’ grid-scale energy storage market has also set a new growth record, with 3.4 GW and 9.1 GWh of capacity deployed in the third quarter of 2024. These figures represent an 84% and 58% increase compared to last year’s statistics.

Quarterly growth among community-scale, commercial and industrial (CCI) sectors was subdued, but remained stable, with 29 MW installed, a slight 4% decrease from year-ago numbers.

In terms of future projections, the report predicts residential and grid-scale segments to lead activity, with grid-scale installations projected to more than double by 2028 to reach a cumulative volume of 63.7 GW, and residential installing 10 GW of storage in the same time period

For grid-scale, the Texan and Californian markets were particularly strong. Texas tripled its installations compared to the previous quarter with nearly 1.7 GW added in quarter three, while California produced the highest GWh of installations with close to 6 GWh. This was thanks to its focus on longer durtation installations.

Other notable leaders in the grid-scale market were Arizona, Colorado, Florida, and Vermont. The monitor’s publishers believe the sustained growth during quarter three bodes very well for the future of energy storage.

“We are seeing the energy storage industry fill a real need across the country to provide reliability in an affordable and efficient manner for communities,” said John Hensley, SVP, Markets and Policy Analysis for ACP. “With 64 GW of new energy storage expected in the next four years, the market signal continues to be clear that energy storage is a critical component of the grid moving forward,” he added.

Noah Roberts, ACP’s VP of Energy Storage, said the growth would drive economic expansion, adding “This additional storage capacity is helping meet increasing energy demand and is supporting growing industries like manufacturing and data centers.”

The battle to sustain growth

However, while 2024 was the industry’s strongest growth year yet, according to Nina Rangel, senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie, sustaining this level will prove difficult.

“Overall, storage installations will grow 30% in 2024, signaling the industry’s strongest year yet. However, it will be difficult to keep this pace. Between 2025 and 2028 we are projecting an annual average growth rate of 10%, as early-stage development constraints continue.”

And Wood Mackenzie’s Global Head of Storage, Alison Weis, said policy changes such as major shifts in tax incentives or increased tariffs could “outweigh benefits” and “potential opportunities in a new pricing environment for domestic manufacturers in terms of competition.”