Battery backup spans utility-scale storage, behind-the-meter systems, residential solar batteries and battery-based uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). The figures below separate power capacity from energy capacity, identify observed data versus estimates and forecasts, and state the relevant geography and measurement period.
Key Battery Backup Statistics
The most useful headline figures include:
- In 2023, more than 2,400 GWh of batteries were used by the worldwide energy sector.
- From 2020 to 2023, global energy-sector battery volume increased to four times its 2020 level.
- During approximately 2019–2023, more than 2,000 GWh of lithium-ion capacity was added worldwide.
- In 2023, electric vehicles accounted for more than 90% of worldwide energy-sector battery use.
- In 2023, more than 40 GW of battery storage was added to power systems worldwide.
- In 2023, 65% of worldwide power-sector battery additions were utility-scale and 35% were behind the meter.
- In 2023, global battery investment reached an estimated $150 billion, including about $115 billion for electric-vehicle batteries.
- In 2024, U.S. cumulative utility-scale battery storage capacity exceeded 26 GW.
- In 2024, U.S. generators added 10.4 GW of utility-scale battery storage capacity.
- At the end of 2023, U.S. utilities reported 575 operating batteries with 15,814 MW of collective capacity.
- In April 2024, more than 50% of new California residential solar photovoltaic installations were paired with batteries.
- From October 2023 through April 2024, California added more than 40,000 new residential solar-plus-battery systems.
- From 2010 to the IEA’s 2024 assessment, average battery costs fell 90% worldwide.
- By 2030, the IEA projects up to a 40% reduction in power-sector battery-storage capital costs in its Stated Policies Scenario.
- In 2025, worldwide battery storage deployments reached 108 GW of new capacity.
- In 2025, battery storage additions worldwide were 40% higher than in 2024.
- In 2025, about 80% of new global battery capacity was utility-scale.
- In the IEA’s 2030 outlook, global energy-storage capacity needs to increase sixfold to 1,500 GW.
Contents
- Global battery backup scale and growth
- U.S. utility-scale battery storage data
- Residential and distributed battery backup adoption
- Battery backup costs and economic targets
- Storage duration, chemistry and operating measures
- Battery backup forecasts, resilience and access
Global Battery Backup Scale and Growth
The IEA’s global battery figures include the broader energy sector, so electric vehicles are an important related context rather than stationary backup alone. In 2023, the worldwide energy sector used more than 2,400 GWh of batteries, four times the 2020 level, while more than 2,000 GWh of lithium-ion capacity had been added during approximately 2019–2023.
IEA, “Status of battery demand and supply” reports these rounded figures and says the five-year addition powered 40 million electric vehicles and thousands of battery-storage projects; the project-size threshold is not defined in the summary.
| Global measure | Period | Reported figure |
|---|---|---|
| Energy-sector battery use | 2023 | More than 2,400 GWh |
| Energy-sector battery-volume change | 2020–2023 | Four times 2020 volume |
| Lithium-ion capacity added | Approximately 2019–2023 | More than 2,000 GWh |
| Electric-vehicle battery volume | 2023 | More than 750 GWh |
| Power-sector battery storage added | 2023 | More than 40 GW |
Electric vehicles accounted for more than 90% of energy-sector battery use in 2023, and annual electric-vehicle battery volumes exceeded 750 GWh. Power-sector storage additions were split between utility-scale and behind-the-meter systems: 65% and 35%, respectively.
The same IEA assessment estimates global battery investment at $150 billion in 2023, including about $115 billion for electric-vehicle batteries. China held nearly 85% of global battery-cell production capacity in the IEA’s 2024 assessment using 2023 market data; that is manufacturing capacity, not deployed storage capacity.
U.S. Utility-Scale Battery Storage Data
U.S. utility-scale storage grew quickly in 2024. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports cumulative utility-scale battery capacity above 26 GW, including 10.4 GW added during 2024; batteries represented 2% of the country’s 1,230-GW utility-scale generating fleet.
EIA, “U.S. battery capacity increased 66% in 2024” also records 19.6 GW of utility-reported planned additions for 2025. That is planned capacity, not confirmed completed construction.
At the end of 2023, U.S. utilities reported 575 operating batteries with 15,814 MW of collective nameplate capacity. Utilities also reported plans for 35,953 MW of additional capacity by the end of 2028, but EIA cautions that utility-reported plans may not all be built.
EIA, “Utilities report batteries are most commonly used for arbitrage and grid stability” identifies arbitrage as the primary reported use for 10,487 MW of battery capacity in its utility inventory.
Earlier EIA market data show the scale of the change over time. At the end of 2019, the United States had 163 operating large-scale battery systems with 1,688 MWh of energy capacity and 1,022 MW of power capacity; more than 60% of both capacity measures was in the PJM Interconnection and CAISO areas.
EIA, “Battery Storage in the United States: An Update on Market Trends” reported 402 MW of U.S. small-scale battery-storage power capacity in 2019. The large-scale and small-scale figures use EIA’s respective storage definitions and should not be treated as identical inventories.
Residential and Distributed Battery Backup Adoption
California provides a detailed view of residential solar-plus-battery adoption, but its observations include estimated preliminary months. In October 2023, just over 20% of new California residential photovoltaic installations were paired with batteries; by April 2024, the share exceeded 50%.
| California residential measure | Period | Reported figure |
|---|---|---|
| New PV installations paired with batteries | October 2023 | Just over 20% |
| New PV installations paired with batteries | April 2024 | More than 50% |
| New solar-plus-battery systems | October 2023–April 2024 | More than 40,000 |
| New battery-storage capacity | October 2023–April 2024 | 232 MW |
| Solar-plus-battery share of installed residential net-metering capacity | July 2024 analysis | About 9% |
EIA, “California residents are increasingly pairing battery storage with solar installations” estimates that more than 40,000 solar-plus-battery systems were added from October 2023 through April 2024, representing 232 MW of new battery-storage capacity. The EIA series is preliminary for this interval.
California had more than 12,000 MW of installed residential solar capacity in net-metering systems below 1 MW in 2024. Solar paired with batteries represented about 9% of installed residential net-metering capacity in the EIA’s July 2024 analysis, while residential net-metering solar capacity increased 22% from the third quarter of 2022 to the third quarter of 2023.
The same EIA analysis recorded 83,376 new residential net-metering photovoltaic systems in California during Q3 2023. That series also uses reported and estimated preliminary data, so the figures describe adoption in the specified dataset rather than a complete census of every household battery.
Battery Backup Costs and Economic Targets
Battery costs have fallen substantially, but the measures below are not interchangeable with a retail home-backup quote. The IEA’s rounded sector-wide estimate says average battery costs fell 90% from 2010 to its 2024 assessment.
IEA, “Status of battery demand and supply” gives the broad cost trend across battery applications. It does not represent a single residential system price.
The IEA projects up to a 40% reduction in power-sector battery-storage capital costs by 2030 in its Stated Policies Scenario. It also projects that solar-plus-battery mini-grids could cut average electricity costs by nearly half by 2030; this is a scenario result for electricity-access mini-grids, not an observed retail tariff.
| DOE storage target | Target metric | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Long-duration stationary storage | $0.05/kWh levelized cost by 2030 | United States |
| Evolving-grid storage | $0.03–$0.05/kWh levelized cost | United States |
| Remote-community storage | $65/MWh delivered energy | United States |
| Critical-services reliability | $77/kW-year | Reliability applications |
| Critical-services backup-generator offset | $1,392/kW-year | Specific valuation framework |
The U.S. Department of Energy’s 2024 storage review sets the long-duration stationary-storage target at $0.05/kWh by 2030, a stated 90% reduction from its 2020 baseline. These are DOE targets, not achieved market prices.
DOE, “2024 Biennial Energy Storage Review” also sets an $80 per rated kWh manufactured-cost target for a 300-mile electric-vehicle battery pack by 2030, compared with a stated current cost of $143 per rated kWh. That EV benchmark is related battery-sector context, not a residential-backup price.
Storage Duration, Chemistry and Operating Measures
Power capacity describes how much output a battery can provide at a point in time, while energy capacity describes how much energy it can store. Duration connects the two concepts, but the supplied market figures do not make unlike power, energy and duration measures directly interchangeable.
In 2025, worldwide battery-storage deployments reached 108 GW of new capacity, 40% higher than in 2024. The IEA reports that about 80% of new global battery capacity deployed in 2025 was utility-scale, while most projects still clustered around two hours of duration.
IEA, “Technology: Battery storage” says an increasing number of projects could operate for four hours or more in 2025, but does not provide a complete count of qualifying projects. The 2025 figures are based on Benchmark (2026) data, and the percentage shares are rounded market descriptions.
Lithium-iron phosphate batteries accounted for around 90% of global battery-storage deployments in 2025. Battery-based UPS capacity additions rose 30% to 45 GW in the same year, primarily reflecting data-center demand and a different backup application from grid storage.
Battery Backup Forecasts, Resilience and Access
The IEA’s 2030 outlook frames storage as a system-level requirement. It says global energy-storage capacity needs to increase sixfold to 1,500 GW, while its Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario assigns batteries 90% of the storage increase and projects 1,200 GW of battery storage by 2030.
IEA, “Outlook for battery demand and supply” projects that battery storage and electric-vehicle batteries together would be directly linked to nearly 20% of the emissions reductions needed in 2030. The estimate is model-linked and includes EV batteries as well as stationary storage.
The same scenario projects $800 billion of battery investment by 2030, 400% above the IEA’s 2023 investment estimate, and seven-times growth in electric-vehicle battery demand by 2030. It also associates battery deployment with avoiding more than 8 million barrels of oil demand per day by 2030; these are scenario outcomes, not battery-backup-only measurements.
Announced battery-manufacturing projects, if realized, would increase global manufacturing capacity to nearly four times its current level by 2030. That projection is conditional on the announced projects being completed.
For the United States, DOE’s long-duration energy-storage pathway says available, cost-effective long-duration storage could avoid more than 200 GW of new natural-gas capacity. It projects about $10–$20 billion in annual savings by 2050 for pathways that leverage long-duration storage and calls for at least one industrial-scale manufacturing and deployment base to be forming by 2030.
DOE, “Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Long Duration Energy Storage Opportunities” presents these as pathway estimates and milestones dependent on long-duration storage being available and cost-effective, rather than realized outcomes.