Wood Mackenzie predicts that energy storage will be a key technology in the utility system.

According to new research from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, the global energy storage market will grow by 2024. According to the report, the global energy storage market is projected to grow from 12 Gwh to 158 Gwh in 2024.

Energy storage will be a key technology in the power grid system, a necessary technology to increase the system's flexibility and ensure clean, fast system balancing, the report said.

Ravi Manghani, director of research at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, said in a statement that from 2013 to 2018, GWh saw growth in the global growth rate (CAGR) of 75% per year. A relatively small distribution was observed, between 7 GW and 12 GWh. "However, these developments have changed the minds of global regulators, policymakers, grid operators, asset operators and developers in terms of how energy systems can be balanced," he said.

"Market structures have generally struggled to keep up with the pace of this technology, as evidenced by the limited number of revenue streams to properly compensate for storage. More than half of GWh during this period went online in 2018 alone."

2018 was a record-breaking year

In terms of investment, 2018 was a record year. The Energy and Renewables report saw an annual growth of 140% on a GWh basis – with a total distribution of between 3.3 GWh and 6GWh.

In addition, between 2019 and 2024, the storage market expects major storage markets to grow with a more mature, but still early-stage GWh CAGR of 38%, according to Wood Mackenzie reports.

In addition, distribution numbers are expected to rise between 63GWh and 158GWh. "The US and China are projected to dominate the market, which accounts for 54% of GWh utilisation capacity, by 2024. This will be driven by market reforms and state officials," the statement said.