The company’s analysts forecast that China and the United States will account for more than 70 % of installed world-wide capacity by 2030.
“Moves to accelerate the decarbonisation of the U.S. and Chinese power sectors are gaining pace and provide the foundation of our global market forecast,” said Xu Le, Senior Research Analyst at Wood Mackenzie.
According to the forecast, by 2030, the overall volume of storage capacity in the Asia-Pacific region will rise by 400 GWh and in Europe by 100 GWh, with Germany and Italy posting the highest figures.
In 2021, according to WoodMac figures, facilities totalling 12GW/28 GWh will be brought on stream.
And that represents a threefold increase in volumes compared to last year.
In July, China announced its intention to install more than 30 GW of new capacity by 2025 as part of its decarbonisation programme.
Energy storage projects are seen as a solution to the unreliable nature of generating power by renewable energy sources, particular solar and wind power.
As shown in the Wood Mackenzie report, the United States and Canada are about to bring in stream 15 GWh annual capacity in 2021, compared to 4 GWh in 2020.
Over the next five years, “the increasingly diverse markets in the States “will spur increased investment in energy systems and in the end, total accumulated capacity will reach 400 GWh.
Previously, HIS Markit issued a forecast that energy storage facilities would total 20 GW in 2024 and 30 GW in 2030.
But expert warn that the rate of expansion may slow owing to limits in the supply of lithium-ion batteries and competition from manufacturers of electric vehicles.
“Increasing focus on the energy transition as a way of stimulating green growth has led to a flood of ambitious energy storage targets announced by governments globally,” George Hilton, an IHS Markit senior analyst for clean energy technology, said in a statement. “This has significantly strengthened our outlook for the industry as it becomes poised to start a prolonged period of strong growth through to 2030.”