Battery demand has soared in recent months as developers of data centers and AI computing are increasingly relying on battery energy storage to manage power surges, executives at battery start-ups have told the Financial Times.
For example, U.S.-based sodium-ion battery start-up Alsym Energy, backed by investments from India’s Tata Group, has seen demand surge this year, as developers want energy storage to support their operations at times of extreme power fluctuations.
“Battery has become an essential component, not a desired component of data centres,” Alsym Energy’s CEO Mukesh Chatter told the FT.
Alsym and other start-ups in the U.S., Europe, and Asia have also seen a surge in demand for batteries from data centers, company executives commented for the publication.
Major battery manufacturers are also betting big on the soaring demand that comes from the AI data centers.
The world’s top battery manufacturer, CATL, expects sales of battery storage systems to account for half of its total sales in the coming years, signaling strong optimism about the battery storage sector as countries investing in alternative energy seek to make it more reliable.
Battery storage is now essential not only for balancing the grid and reducing the waste of solar and wind generation, but also for providing storage for computing centers.
Globally, battery storage installations are booming. Europe’s battery storage and renewables-plus-storage installations are booming and set to further accelerate in the coming years as many European markets look to protect themselves from volatile fossil fuel prices and geopolitically-triggered energy crises.
The United States, for its part, installed a record 3.3 GW/8.4 GWh of battery energy storage systems in the first quarter, surpassing the previous Q1 record by 54%, as utility, commercial, and residential installations all hit new highs, showed the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report released by the American Clean Power Association (ACP) and Wood Mackenzie.
The U.S. battery energy storage market is set to nearly quadruple over the next six years, the report projects.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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