U.S. battery storage capacity could increase 89% by the end of 2024 if all of the planned energy storage systems reach commercial operation on schedule, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Developers plan to expand U.S. battery capacity to more than 30 GW by the end of 2024. Planned and currently operational U.S. utility-scale battery capacity totaled around 16 GW at the end of 2023.
Battery storage in the U.S. has been growing since 2021. This is especially true in California and Texas, two states that have seen rapid renewable energy growth.
California has the most installed battery storage capacity of any state with 7.3 GW, with Texas with 3.2 GW. All other states combined have a total of around of 3.5 GW of installed capacity.
According to EIA, the five largest new U.S. battery storage projects scheduled to be deployed in California and Texas in 2024 or 2025 are:
- Lunis Creek BESS SLF (Texas, 621 MW)
- Clear Fork Creek BESS SLF (Texas, 600 MW
- Hecate Energy Ramsey Storage (Texas, 500 MW)
- Bellefield Solar and Energy Storage Farm (California, 500 MW)
- Dogwood Creek Solar and BESS (Texas, 443 MW)
Solar to continue growth, gas to remain unchanged
EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook is the first to include forecasts for 2025.
The agency projects solar power to be the leading source of growth in electricity generation in both 2024 and 2025, as 36 GW and 43 GW of new solar capacity come on line, respectively. The new capacity would boost the solar share of total generation to 6% in 2024 and 7% in 2025, up from 4% in 2023.
Coal-fired capacity would continue to plummet the next two years, according to EIA projections. EIA expects a decline by 9% in 2024 and by 10% in 2025, with 12 GW of coal-fired capacity retiring over the next two years.
Accordingly, EIA projects U.S. coal production to decline by more than 90 million short tons (MMst) to less than 490 MMst in 2024 and then fall below 430 MMst in 2025, the least coal produced in the U.S. since the early 1960s.
EIA expects generation from natural gas to not change in 2024 and 2025, compared with 2023.
