US Battery Storage Pipeline Matches Current Total Operating Capacity

The United States is on track to more than double its utility-scale battery storage fleet over the next 30 months. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), developers plan to add 54 GW of new energy storage capacity, a figure that exceeds the country’s current operational total of nearly 52 GW.

The sector has seen an average annual capacity increase of 70% over the past three years. The momentum continued strongly into the current year, with operators commissioning 8.3 GW of new battery assets during the first half of 2026 alone. This follows a strong previous year, where cumulative installations reached 43.6 GW by the end of 2025.

Much of the new capacity is being co-located with utility-scale photovoltaics. A notable example is the Bellefield project in California, a combined solar and storage site that integrates 500 MW of solar generation with 500 MW of battery capacity. These hybrid configurations allow operators to store energy during periods of low wholesale market pricing and discharge the stored energy during higher-priced evening peaks.

Source: EIA Today in Energy