Renewable

January 19 (SeeNews) - Emerging markets are expected to add nearly 81 GW of stationary energy storage capacity by 2025 to today’s 1.9 GW of non-hydro energy storage installations, according to researchers.

About 65% of the new energy storage capacity, or 52.3 GW, will be deployed in East Asia and the Pacific, Navigant Research says in a new report commissioned by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank-administered Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP).

South Asia will account for 13%, or 10.4 GW, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region will install 5.6 GW, and Latin America and the Caribbean will deploy 5.4 GW in 2016-2025. Eastern Europe and Central Asia will add 4 GW, while Sub-Saharan Africa installs 3.3 GW.

Across all regions covered by the study, utility-scale energy storage is seen to be by far the largest market segment with a 66% share, followed by the commercial and industrial (23%), the residential (6%) and the remote power systems (5%) segments.

“Energy storage technology will be critical in the expansion of renewable energy in remote and rural areas that lack grid infrastructure or reliable electricity supplies,” said Philippe Le Houerou, IFC’s executive vice president and CEO.

Deploying batteries and other stationary storage technology will reduce the need for fossil fuel-fired power plants to provide backup when weather conditions are not suitable for wind and solar power generation, IFC said in a statement.