March 6, 2026: The US energy storage industry installed a record 58GWh of new capacity in 2025, the largest single year of new battery capacity additions on record, according to latest industry data.
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) said on February 23 that despite increased federal government pressure “targeting” clean energy, BESS installations were up 30% from the previous record set in 2024 — and are now four times what the industry installed three years ago.
According to the US Energy Storage Market Outlook Q1 2026, released by SEIA and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, as of 2025, 137GWh of utility scale storage had been installed in the US.
A total of 19GWh of commercial and industrial storage was installed, along with 9GWh of residential storage.
As of 2025, lithium ion battery cell manufacturing for stationary electricity storage applications rose to more than 21GWh according to SEIA’s Solar and Storage Supply Chain Dashboard. That is the equivalent of powering the city of Houston from sunset to sunrise, the association said.
Meanwhile, American manufacturing facilities now have the capacity to manufacture 70GWh of battery storage systems.
Standalone storage made up nearly 30GWh of new capacity added in 2025, while storage paired with solar accounted for 20GWh. The residential energy storage sector added more than 3GWh in 2025, marking a 51% year over year increase.
SEIA said an expansion of virtual power plant programs in states like Massachusetts, Texas, Arizona, and Illinois were driving residential storage deployment.
Despite actions in Washington, over 600GWh of energy storage is expected to be installed by 2030. This rapid deployment will help lower energy costs, enhance reliability, and boost American energy independence, SEIA said.
Iola Hughes, head of research at Benchmark Minerals, said: “The US energy storage market has entered a new phase of sustained, high volume-deployments.
“At a time of rising electricity demand, driven in part by the growth of datacenters and AI infrastructure, energy storage will be critical to ensuring the grid can scale reliably and efficiently.”
