US large-scale battery storage capacity increases by 30 percent

The United States Energy Information administration said that the country has continued a trend of "significant growth" in large-scale battery storage capacity in 2020, with a capacity reaching 1,650 megawatts (MW) by the end of the year.

According to their report, Battery Storage in the United States: An Update on Market Trends, the U.S. battery power capacity grew by 35 percent in 2020 and has tripled in the last five years. 

“The trend is expected to continue; utilities have reported plans to install over 10,000 MW of additional large-scale battery power capacity in the United States from 2021 to 2023—10 times the capacity in 2019,” said the department.

The department said that there are five states that account for more than 70 percent of the U.S. battery storage power capacity as of December 2020. 

“California has the largest share at 31 percent (506 MW) of the U.S. total. Texas, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Hawaii each have more than 50 MW of power capacity,” they added.