35 GW of Storage Can Save US $4 Billion by 2025

If the U.S. can deploy 35 GW of new energy storage by 2025, the Energy Storage Association (ESA) estimates that the return in operational savings from those deployments could surpass $4 billion.

According to its new report, 35X25: A Vision for Energy Storage, ESA sees a clear pathway to achieving that 35 GW goal, but ESA noted that it would require “fundamental changes in how the grid is planned and engineered, including a reform of U.S. energy markets and regulations.”

The report said that the operational cost savings from the use of storage would come from, for example, reducing the cost to provide frequency regulation and spinning reserve services.

Under the ESA’s 35 GW vision, the U.S. also would see the addition of about 167,000 new jobs by 2025.

The ESA’s pathway for new capacity for 2025 by region estimates that Hawaii and the U.S. Southwest, including California, would account for 34 percent of all new installations, followed by the U.S. Northeast at 28 percent and the U.S. Southeast at 19 percent. According to the report, 

California accounts for most new storage development since 2012, driven by the state’s aggressive renewables goals and high energy prices. The report said there currently are more than 4,200 MW (4.2 GW) of non-hydro storage deployed or in the pipeline in the Southwest and Hawaii. Of that total, 2,300 MW is compressed air and 454 MW is from molten salt/thermal storage for concentrated solar power projects. The majority of proposed projects in the pipeline are electrochemical/battery, according to the ESA.

ESA said that its 35-GW vision corresponds to a Navigant Research forecast of 106 GWh for the 2017-2025 time frame.

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