Over the next decade, global energy storage will grow by 636% with 926 GW/2789 GWh added to reach a total of 1,085 GW/3,147 GWh while at least 5.4 TW of wind and solar will be added to reach a total of 8 TW, according to Wood Mackenzie’s latest global market outlook updates.
New installations of solar and wind capacity will increase from the 500 GW installed in 2023 to average 560 GW annually over the next ten years, Wood Mackenzie projects. The firm expects solar to lead that deployment and account for 59% of the global renewable capacity that comes online in the next decade.
Wood Mackenzie also expects China to dominate new solar, wind and storage installations, and connect 3.5 TW of these resources to the grid between now and 2033.
“Policy support from China’s central government drives the world’s largest wind market,” said Wood Mackenzie in a release. The firm projects that China will install about 91.5 GW of wind capacity annually over the next decade, while North and South America are expected to install a total of 230 GW by 2033.
However, Wood Mackenzie said that countries in North America and Asia, along with Western Europe, will see “challenges with permitting, grid access, financing, and supply chain availability” impacting their offshore wind markets through 2026.
In terms of energy storage, global “deployment in 2023 achieved record-breaking growth of 162% compared to 2022, installing 45 GW,” said Anna Darmani, the lead analyst on Wood Mackenzie’s Global Energy Storage team. “While impressive, the growth represents just the start for a multi-TW market.”
Wood Mackenzie sees grid-scale storage projects “booming as developers aim to seize opportunities from emerging contracted revenues.”
“Demand from the distributed segment has decreased by 23% in 2024 as retail rates stabilize,” the firm’s release said. “With lower system costs and regulatory changes, however, distributed market growth is expected to resume from 2026.”
“Energy storage will have the most balanced geographic footprint over the outlook due in part to its important role in helping to make renewable power available,” said Luke Lewandowski, vice president of global renewables research at Wood Mackenzie.
