March 4, 2021
‘Best Is Yet to Come’ for Energy Storage Technology
Advancements in batteries, along with an improved regulatory environment and more investment, could make this decade the Roaring ’20s for energy storage.
Industry analysts have told POWER that energy storage, be it from batteries, thermal systems, mechanical storage, hydrogen production, or pumped hydropower, is critical to the advancement of the power sector. The need for storage is considered paramount to the electrification of transportation and other businesses, and to continued growth in renewable energy.
Kelly Speakes-Backman, former CEO of the Energy Storage Association who was recently named to a top post at the U.S. Dept. of Energy, told the audience at POWER’s Distributed Energy Conference last year that additions of battery storage doubled in 2020, and probably would have tripled if not for construction slowdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
