BOULDER, CO-The market for energy storage in commercial buildings is about to take off. Although one segment, energy storage systems for uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, is mature, the business models for the other two segments within this market – electrical energy storage (EES) systems and thermal energy storage (TES) systems – are still evolving. According to a recent report from Navigant Research, annual revenue from energy storage systems for commercial buildings will grow from $3.9 billion in 2013 to more than $7.5 billion in 2022.

“Today, there is less than 10 gigawatt-hours of cumulative energy storage capacity represented by all commercial building systems, and the vast majority of that capacity is frozen behind meters in UPS systems that are rarely, if ever, called upon,” says Sam Jaffe, senior research analyst with Navigant Research. “By 2022, such systems will represent a global cumulative capacity of more than 30 gigawatt-hours, most of which will be interacting with the power grids throughout the world on a daily basis.”

The future growth of TES and EES systems is primarily reliant on expectations of regulatory changes. As TES and EES systems begin to reach critical mass, their overall energy capacity will start to become significant, the study concludes. When combined with residential energy storage systems and utility-owned storage systems, energy storage will have a greater impact on the capacity of the grid to absorb more renewable power, and will increase overall system power reliability and quality.