The energy storage market continues to evolve. 2024 has been a key year for deployment and technological advancements, but the near future brings both opportunities and uncertainties.
According to a report by Wood Mackenzie, the sector is expected to grow by 27% in 2025, an optimistic figure that could mark the beginning of a new era. However, is this growth truly sustainable?
Political, economic, and technological factors could hinder expansion or even redefine the industry’s trajectory. Are we witnessing a definitive takeoff, or is this a bubble with an expiration date?
Let’s discuss.
1. Geopolitics and Regional Dependency
One of the most critical factors influencing energy storage growth is its reliance on the global supply chain.
While the U.S. strengthens protectionist policies such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Europe seeks to reduce its dependence on China, and emerging markets like Saudi Arabia are making strong moves. This raises two key questions:
Will supply chain fragmentation increase storage costs, or will it drive innovation and local investment?
From a technical and strategic standpoint, initial fragmentation will indeed lead to higher energy storage costs, at least in the short term.
The reason is clear: relocating production entails logistical challenges, high initial investments, and the need to establish new value chains. However, when viewed through an industrial development lens, the outlook changes.
Diversifying suppliers and investing in local manufacturing could enhance the sector’s resilience, reducing reliance on a single region and fostering new technologies.
At Desamerc, we believe this shift will push the industry to accelerate the transition to alternatives like sodium-ion batteries or hybrid systems that reduce dependence on critical materials such as lithium and cobalt.
How will manufacturers respond to this new reality, and what implications will it have for price stability?
The impact on manufacturers will depend on their ability to adapt. Companies with flexible infrastructure and the capacity to invest in innovation can seize this transformation as an opportunity to differentiate themselves, while those relying on centralized production models may struggle.
At Desamerc, we anticipate a dual movement: on one hand, traditional manufacturers will relocate part of their production to comply with local regulations, and on the other, new players will emerge, optimizing material efficiency and processes.
In terms of pricing, storage costs are likely to rise in the short term due to supply chain restructuring. However, as investments in new factories and alternative materials mature, we may see cost stabilization and even reductions in the long run—especially if the market consolidates more scalable and cost-effective technologies.
2. Technology and Costs: The Search for Balance
The report highlights technological advances, such as 5 MWh containers, which promise to improve storage efficiency. However, the reality is more complex: material costs remain volatile, and parity with conventional energy sources is still a challenge. This raises two key questions:
Will technological innovations truly lower costs, or will they only offset rising raw material expenses?
From a technical perspective, technological evolution in energy storage has proven to be a key tool for improving efficiency and optimizing resources.
However, it’s important to acknowledge that many of these innovations primarily counteract rising raw material costs rather than significantly reducing final prices.
In the short term, advancements in energy density and conversion efficiency help mitigate the impact of rising lithium and nickel costs.
However, to achieve a structural cost reduction, the industry must diversify its technologies. This is where sodium-ion batteries, thermal storage, and alternative materials with lower environmental impact come into play.
At Desamerc, we see a trend toward optimizing every stage of the system, from improving cell efficiency to developing more modular and scalable architectures.
Will long-duration energy storage (LDES) bring a true paradigm shift, or will it remain a developing technology without large-scale implementation?
Long-duration energy storage (LDES) is one of the sector’s biggest promises, but large-scale adoption still faces challenges.
Technologies such as compressed air, gravitational storage, and flow batteries have demonstrated potential, but cost competitiveness and integration into current energy markets remain obstacles.
At Desamerc, we believe LDES will play a key role in the energy transition, but its adoption will largely depend on two factors: lower implementation costs and the development of business models that allow these systems to be monetized efficiently.
Currently, the market still prioritizes technologies with faster return on investment, limiting LDES expansion beyond pilot projects and niche applications.
3. Demand: Between Expansion and Grid Overload
In Spain, rising energy consumption from data centers, industries, and transportation electrification has increased the need for energy storage solutions.
However, this growth also brings a structural challenge: can the power grid handle this rising demand without compromising stability?
Are we building enough infrastructure to support this growth?
While Spain has made progress in integrating renewable energy, the deployment of energy storage infrastructure is not keeping pace.
Currently, the grid faces a dual challenge: the increasing penetration of intermittent renewables (solar and wind) and the need to manage demand peaks without over-sizing generation capacity.
Large-scale battery installations in solar and wind farms are expanding, but bureaucratic hurdles and unclear incentives have slowed their development.
Additionally, the transmission and distribution grid needs reinforcement to prevent bottlenecks, especially in high-renewable production regions like Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, and Aragón.
At Desamerc, we believe the key is not just increasing installed storage capacity but also optimizing demand management with digital tools and flexibility models that enable more efficient energy use.
Could distributed storage and microgrids be the key solution to prevent grid overload?
Definitely. Distributed energy storage is one of the most promising solutions to enhance grid stability without requiring massive infrastructure investments.
In Spain, battery-backed self-consumption systems are gaining traction among households and small businesses, reducing strain on the grid during peak demand periods.
Meanwhile, microgrids and energy communities offer a real opportunity to decentralize the power system and make storage a cornerstone of the energy transition.
However, regulatory and economic barriers still hinder widespread deployment.
Conclusion: Outlook for an Uncertain Future
Energy storage is not just a growing trend—it is a critical component of the energy transition. However, optimism must be balanced with a realistic analysis:
Regulatory barriers, production costs, and demand evolution will play a fundamental role in determining whether this sector continues expanding or faces a market correction in the coming years.
The key will lie in the industry’s ability to innovate without relying on short-term policies and in building a more resilient global market.
