The US energy storage market is gaining momentum installing a record 3,515 MWh in the third quarter of 2021, according to the latest US Energy Storage Monitor report.

Utility-scale front-of-the-meter deployments totalled 998 MW/3,198 MWh, led by California, Texas and Arizona. The residential market managed to increase installations over the second quarter to 97.9 MW/225 MWh despite challenges such as solar module and battery constraints, while the non-residential market saw 43.6 MW/92.1 MWh of installations.

“After achieving one gigawatt of annual installations for the first time last year, US energy storage companies just installed one gigawatt of projects in one quarter,” Jason Burwen, interim chief executive of the US Energy Storage Association, said on Thursday as Wood Mackenzie and the association released the report.

Wood Mackenzie projects that up to 4.7 GW of utility-scale storage will become operational in 2021.

“The pace of energy storage installations will continue breaking records for years to come, particularly once Congress enacts an ITC [investment tax credit] for energy storage,” said Burwen.

The report forecasts that the US annual energy storage market will be worth USD 8.97 billion (EUR 7.94bn) in 2026, up from an estimated USD 5.48 billion in 2021.