GTM: Australia’s residential energy storage ‘explosion’ to reach 132MW a year by 2020

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email

US analysis firm GTM Research has published the latest commentary to highlight significant potential in Australia for energy storage, driven by the success of its PV industry.

'The Australian energy storage market: Downstream drivers and opportunities', authored by GTM’s Brett Simon, predicts that by 2020, Australia will be installing 244MW of storage capacity on a yearly basis. In monetary terms, Simon predicts that what was an US$8 million market in 2013 will be worth US$448 million in five years’ time.  

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Of this total annual capacity figure, as much as 132MW is expected to be deployed behind the meter and paired with PV in homes. Residential energy storage, with households storing their solar to reduce electricity costs, either by reducing their exposure to time-of-use electricity rates or simply by self-consuming a higher proportion of PV-generated power compared to more expensive power from the grid, is likely to drive the market on.

Residential storage will “explode” from 1.9MW deployed this year to 44MW in 2016, the report claims, with the above factors accelerated by big drops in the feed-in tariff (FiT) rates, or by FiT schemes closing early. The country has different FiT schemes for different regions, with different timelines for their phase out or degression. The removal of FiT incentives, replaced by what GTM called “paltry solar export tariffs”, will mean storage makes a growing degree of economic sense for homeowners.

The GTM report also said that commercial-scale storage, while not enjoying prospects for growth as strong as household, will nonetheless ramp up rapidly too. A combination of high demand charges and incentive schemes in South Australia would catalyse this market, from just 1.5MW this year to 23MW in 2016.

Australia’s storage market potential is increasingly well known both at home and abroad

GTM’s report follows closely in the wake of several other reports on the growth potential of energy storage paired with solar in Australia, mostly published by organisations based domestically. Since August, PV Tech's sister site, PV Tech Storage, has covered reports that have emerged from Australian crowd-funded non-profit organisation Climate Council, technical services company AECOM – commissioned by Australia’s Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) – and more recently from the Australian Energy Storage Council, an offshoot of the Australian Solar Council.

Meanwhile, recent announcements from Tesla and Enphase have confirmed that both US companies share the enthusiasm of GTM and others for the emerging household solar-plus-storage market in Australia. Tesla has confirmed Australia will be one of the initial markets for Powerwall when the EV maker’s home storage battery finally hits the shelves, with Enphase expected to follow suit.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s collaborator on battery packs, Panasonic, is already trialling multiple applications of its own branded home storage devices with utility Red Energy. According to the GTM report, the interest not only of international firms to sell into Australia, but also of Australia’s electricity retailers to diversify into solar-plus-storage, is a strong indication of its future trajectory.

Read Next

October 7, 2025
Rystad Energy has said that Queensland’s utility-solar assets were the best-performing solar PV power plants in September 2025.
October 7, 2025
The government of Victoria, Australia, has launched the an incentive scheme to encourage businesses to install rooftop solar installations.
Premium
October 2, 2025
Australia's solar sector delivered a strong September performance in the National Electricity Market (NEM) as the country entered spring, with combined solar PV generation reaching 3,933GWh - a 17.83% increase from August's 3,338GWh.
October 2, 2025
FRV Australia has announced the completion of its largest solar project to date, the 300MW Walla Walla Solar Farm in New South Wales.
October 1, 2025
Engie Australia's 250MW Goorambat East Solar Farm has registered with AEMO, marking the project’s readiness for the commissioning phase.
September 30, 2025
SynergyRED, a wholly owned subsidiary of Synergy, has submitted a development application for a 2GW hybrid renewable energy project in Western Australia's Mid-West Region.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK