US grid batteries near 52 GW after three years of 70% annual growth

Utility-scale battery storage in the United States reached nearly 52 GW of nameplate capacity by the end of June 2026, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on August 7, 2026, drawing on its Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory. The fleet stood at 43.6 GW at the end of 2025; operators added another 8.3 GW in the first half of 2026. Over the last three years, capacity grew at an annual average rate of 70%.

The pipeline operators report to EIA points steeply upward from here: an additional 54 GW of battery storage planned over the next two and a half years, with 14 GW slated for the second half of 2026, 26 GW in 2027, and 14 GW in 2028. All of those figures are plans operators have reported to EIA, and remain plans until the capacity is on the grid.

The largest storage installations sit next to solar plants. The Bellefield Solar and Energy Storage Farm, which began operating in December 2025, pairs 500 MW of photovoltaic capacity with 500 MW of nameplate storage in the California Independent System Operator's territory, and plans to double both by November 2026, which would make it the largest power storage facility in the country if completed. Florida's Manatee Solar Energy Center, operating since 2021, holds 409 MW of storage against 75 MW of solar; Nevada's Gemini Solar Hybrid, online in 2024, pairs 690 MW of photovoltaics with 380 MW of storage. Co-locating storage with solar, EIA notes, lets operators charge when wholesale prices are low and discharge when they are high.