SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 16, 2019 — The market for commercial battery energy storage is opening up as a result of feed-in tariffs and net metering revisions in commercial photovoltaic (PV) hotspots, subsidies and tax incentives, affordable lithium-ion batteries, and rising electricity. In addition, the rise of the self-consumption model and digitization are encouraging manufacturers to provide value-added functionalities, and many have already started incorporating energy intelligence in the storage systems. This will allow customer-sited energy storage systems to participate in the local ancillary grid services market and tap new revenue opportunities. According to Frost & Sullivan, the commercial battery storage market is expected to show enormous growth, rising from $160.4 million in 2017 to $1.6 billion by 2025.
“Solar paired with storage is increasingly becoming attractive to consumers due to falling solar PV and battery prices as well as the perceptible shift towards decentralized energy,” said Utham Ganesh Research Analyst Energy & Environment. “The growth of electric vehicles in key global markets is expected to further spur the adoption of commercial battery storage due to its ability to stabilize the grid and generate additional revenue streams.”
Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis, Commercial Battery Energy Storage Market in Key Markets, Forecast to 2025, examines the global market for commercial battery storage. It presents country-wise drivers and restraints, competitive analyses, market trends, policies, growth opportunities, trends, and revenue forecasts from 2017 to 2025. The geographical scope of the study includes key European markets such as Germany, the UK, Italy, France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the Nordics, as well as the US and Australia.
“Germany and the UK will be the two biggest markets for commercial energy storage in Europe, driven by customers’ desire to avoid TRIAD charges and make the most of the opportunities offered by the local energy trading markets,” noted Ganesh. “The US market will grow the most globally due to the high demand charges for commercial installations, attractive incentives for solar and storage, and a slowdown in the feed-in tariff and net metering schemes. Australia is likely be the biggest market outside of the US due to the expensive electricity and companies’ focus on energy independence from the grid.”
Additional growth opportunities for battery manufacturers include:
- Incorporation of machine learning algorithms to develop smart self-learning systems.
- The United States, Australia, Germany and the United Kingdomwere the dominant markets in 2017, accounting for 84.3 percent of all installed units from the countries analyzed. By 2025, these countries are forecast to contribute annual revenues of $1.5 billion.
- Fostering partnerships with energy management solution providers to develop in-built cloud-based battery monitoring and fault diagnosis platform with relevant cyber security measures.
- Collaborations with storage and energy management companies to build in Artificial Intelligence, predictive and maintenance analytics, and blockchain for superior control over commercial energy usage.
- Gaining a deep understanding of the local regulatory energy markets and incentive policies in order to work with customers from the initial phase.
- Customization and sizing of batteries according to the building load profile following an individual business case analysis.
- Provision of bundled integrated energy services with suitable software and technology-agnostic battery solutions.
