Australia's Installed Energy Storage Capacity Jumps To Third Globally

 

Australia's installed energy storage capacity jumps to third globally, with per capita 1GWh more than double that of the UK, and its project pipeline surges 45% to 154GW.

 

Australia has become the world's third-largest large-scale energy storage market, boasting the world's highest per capita battery storage capacity at over 1 gigawatt-hour per million people, double that of the second-ranked UK.

 

By 2025, Australia is projected to surpass the UK to become the world's third-largest utility-scale battery storage system market, after China and the US. Currently, the country has 14 GW/37 GW of projects in or nearing financial completion, with these capacities expected to come online within the next two years. The battery project pipeline jumped 45 GW in 12 months, from 109 GW in August 2024 to 154 GW.

 

In its report, "Utility Battery Market Assessment – ​​Australia, August 2025," research firm Rystad Energy notes that while Australia is a success story in the renewable energy sector, its market size is unlikely to maintain its third-largest global position in the long term. Analyst David Dixon stated that the current record-breaking scale of battery construction will face competition for grid connection resources. Concurrent projects such as the Hunt gas-fired power station and the Snowy 2.0 pumped storage project have exacerbated rising labor costs in the EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) sector. Renewable energy project development costs have increased by 50% to 80% in the past 24 months.

 

Data from the Australian Energy Market Operator shows that national electricity consumption will grow by 28% over the next decade, reaching an estimated 229 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2034-35. As of the June 2025 quarter, 10 energy storage projects totaling 2.4 gigawatts have been approved, 6 projects totaling 866 megawatts have been registered, and 3 projects totaling 485 megawatts are fully operational. CEO Daniel Westerman emphasized that with the retirement of fossil fuel units, timely advancement of energy storage and transmission projects is crucial to ensuring power supply reliability.

 

In response to the 200 new loads brought about by artificial intelligence and cloud data centers, Rystad analysts pointed out the uncertainty of future energy storage demand, while emphasizing that public-grade batteries have a greater economic advantage in diversified revenue scenarios compared to residential batteries, which cost twice as much.