The global energy storage market size is expected to achieve an annualized growth of 8% over the next several years so that by 2020, the value of the market will be at least $50 billion. The greatest growth sector within this industry is expected to be in transportation, which will account for almost 50% of the total market by EOY 2020. Electronics will still compose a majority of the market, however, bringing in $27 billion.
The last $2 billion and any additional remainder would then come from a variety of stationary applications which are barely on the radar of the energy storage industry as of 2015.
Why Will There Be Explosive Growth in Transportation?
When it comes to the energy market size, electric vehicles are a virtually untapped component of the industry. With an average of just 440k sales as of today, plus the continued emphasis of hybrids that are expected to move 59 million units in total, the amount of energy storage necessary is expected to see explosive growth.
Contributing to this growth in the past has been the volatility of the oil and gasoline markets. With high prices and uncertainty about prices going higher, consumers and manufacturers have looked at other energy resources and storage as a way to accomplish tasks for a cheaper cost. With oil prices far from historical highs in 2015 and shale oil production in the US showing dramatic increases, there could be less of an emphasis on transportation energy storage and this could affect the overall market predictions for 2020.
Outside of the United States, China is also a major contributor to this industry. By 2020, it is even expected that this populous nation will nearly match the amount of units that will be moved. Could a growing Chinese economy off-set a potentially stalled US or global economy in this specific sector? Much of this depends on what happens through 2017 to see if the market size predictions will come true.
Could Stationary Applications Offset Some Losses?
Most stationary applications in the energy storage market size involve residential needs. Solar integration is what is driving this industry right now and it represents the largest sector of current growth. Some estimates have this part of the market growing from a $100 million global sector to a $1.2 billion dollar sector.
What makes the solar industry a tempting area of growth is that the perfect storm of financing, favorable policies, and subsidies have been instituted to make growth possible. This is especially true in the United States and in Germany. Renewables and utility applications are also expected to be a combined $1 billion contribution to the energy storage market size by 2020.
What Fuels the Growth of This Market Right Now?
The reason why the growth estimates are so extreme in the energy storage market size is the fact that many businesses have set long-range goals that specifically target this industry.
1. Tesla Motors has indicated that they expected to be selling a minimum of 500k electric vehicles every year by 2020.
2. The Nissan Leaf is already a top selling vehicle and the manufacturer already has over 12+ electric vehicles that are available right now for sale.
3. Several other major vehicle manufacturers have plans to introduce electric vehicles to the global market before 2020.
The start of this growth is expected to be fulfilled by EOY 2015. Deployments at EOY 2014 were 62 megawatts. By 2015, the expectation is to have 220 megawatts. This rapid pace of growth is then expected to continue at an equal pace. This is also reflected by the fact that 90% of the current market occurs in front of the meter.
70% of the 2014 numbers come from deployments that are using lithium-ion batteries. Demand is continuing to rise for energy solutions and eventually a demand of 861 megawatts is expected. That’s 11x the size of EOY 2014 numbers and shows why this market has so much potential.
There Will Be Peaks And Valleys In The Energy Storage Market Size.
Strong growth is expected in 2015, but there could be stops and starts in 2016-2017 as innovation, research, and development all help to improve efficiencies within the market.
The next 5 years are going to all be about growth in the energy storage industry. Demand may even be higher than anticipated, which would fuel additional growth. Even with oil prices low, there is still an expected demand for more environmentally friendly transportation options. As this technology improves, then so will the energy storage market size.
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