U.S. power grid adds 4.2 GW of battery storage in H1

Battery storage accounted for the second-largest share of newly operating generating capacity in the United States in the first half of 2024. If all planned additions come online, this year could see a record amount of battery storage capacity added to the grid, totaling 15 GW.

August 26, 2024 Marija Maisch

Image: EIA

From pv magazine ESS News

Battery storage was the second-largest contributor of utility-scale electric generating capacity in the United States during the first half of 2024, accounting for 4.2 GW.

According to the US Energy Information Administration’s “Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory,” developers and power plant owners added 20.2 GW of cumulative utility-scale electric generating capacity in the first six months of the year, up by 3.6 GW (21%) from the same period in 2023.

Solar accounted for the lion’s share of new additions, totaling 12 GW or 59%. In 2023, solar also dominated new additions to the grid. It was followed by battery storage, which made up 21% of the new capacity on the grid this year.

Battery additions were concentrated in four states: California (37% of the U.S. total), Texas (24%), Arizona (19%), and Nevada (13%). The 380 MW of battery storage capacity in Nevada at the Gemini plant and the 300 MW Eleven Mile Solar Center in Arizona were the two largest projects that came online in the first half of 2024.

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