Dive Brief:
- The growth in battery storage means trouble for traditional generators, according to a new report from HSBC. With solar and wind also in the mix, and paired with storage, the report found almost no chance older generators will return to the profitability they saw a decade ago.
- The global investment firm reports that the issue is global, as conventional fossil plants in Europe and Australia also face a tightening bottom line.
- The dramatic shift towards battery use will begin in Germany, and later with initiatives in California and China, according to the global investment bank.
Dive Insight:
Price has traditionally been a stumbling block to integrating new storage technologies, but HSBC says that may be changing. Consumers in some areas may be motivated by more than just the final bill, or are willing to make a longer-term commitment to cleaner power.
“We believe that in markets such as Germany, households are in ideological agreement with the drive toward renewables, [and] wish to be more in control of their own power supply and consumption," the report said, according to Greentech Media.
More importantly, the report finds that solar PV with storage will hit price parity with residential power costs before 2020 in Germany. HSBC says those price reductions are a signal of what's to come in the United States and around the world.
The report finds storage will serve more than residential load as well, ultimately being scaled up to help integrate larger scale renewables projects.
