Global Movements:
In the first quarter of 2017, newly operating electrochemical energy storage projects totaled 120 MW, a 48% increase compared to the same period last year, and a 37% increase compared to Q4 of last year. Projects were largely located in the United States, England, Finland, China, Australia, Denmark, and India.
Most of Q1's newly added capacity is devoted to ancillary services applications with over 99.1 MW. This represents a 87% increase since the same period last year and a 38% increase since Q4 of 2016.
Global Markets:
The most active states in the US include, California, New York, Texas, Hawaii, and Massachusetts, mainly addressing grid power shortages and increased grid flexibility. England placed emphasis on storage participating in frequency regulation and grid capacity services. German projects focused on large scale storage stations involved with balancing storage renewable energy generation output. Australian projects were mostly located in South Australia and focused on improving grid stability.
China Market Updates
In Q1 of 2017, China added 1.25 MW of newly operating energy storage facilities, a 92% decrease from the same period last year and a 93% decrease since Q4 of last year. Newly added projects were all in the Eastern China region.
Nearly all of added capacity was in distributed energy and microgrids applications, growth in this sector increased 1150% from Q4 of 2016 decreased 93% since Q4 of 2016.
China Market Movements:
After the release of several national level “13th Five Year Plans” covering development and technology innovation roadmaps across energy sectors, several provinces began releasing provincial-level "13th Five Year Plans" and guiding opinions to cover future implementation plans.