The utility-scale batteries operating in the United States had an efficiency of retrieving the stored electricity at 82 percent in 2019, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Friday. Pumped-storage facilities—the largest energy storage resource in the U.S. with 21.9 gigawatts (GW) of capacity accounting for 92 percent of total energy storage capacity as of November 2020—had a round-trip efficiency of 79 percent, the EIA said. Utility-scale battery capacity in the United States has been growing exponentially in recent years as it has been increasingly paired with soaring new wind and solar capacity installations. So battery capacity has become the second-largest source of electricity storage. As of November 20, 2020, utility-scale batteries had 1.4 GW of operational capacity. This year alone, 4 GW of battery capacity is scheduled to come online, according to EIA’s Preliminary Electric Generator Inventory. “The role of batteries and their capability to […]