U.S. thermal energy storage capacity to triple by 2020

PARIS – Installed thermal energy storage capacity will experience steady growth in the United States over the next several years. Standing at 2.7 gigawatts (GW) in 2011, it will increase by 4.5 GW by 2020, nearly tripling to a total of 7.2 GW, according to a new report by market research and consulting firm Pike Research.

“With the exception of pumped hydroelectric storage, which dwarfs the installed capacity of all other commercially available energy storage technologies, TES is currently the most common form of storage available,” commented research director Kerry-Ann Adamson.

Although other storage media, particularly batteries, are predicted to grow significantly faster than TES, Pike Research said it expects TES revenue will continue to rise with global revenue from new TES installations set to surpass $3.5 billion by 2020.

Similarly, TES is expected to have strong potential in Europe. Giving a conservative estimate of 2020 market activity, Pike Research said it anticipates that there will be about 19 GW of cumulative TES installations in Europe by the end of the decade, equaling 2 GW of new capacity per year by 2020.

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