At a glance
- Storage sited at data centers is expected to reach 4.9 GW/7.4 GWh in 2026, nearly ten times the 500 MW/1.4 GWh recorded in 2025.
- For allocators funding these projects, the tax calendar now sets the build schedule: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act extended federal tax credit eligibility for storage through 2035 while letting solar eligibility lapse later this decade.
- Suppliers are already booking demand.
BNEF raised its forecast for US energy storage deployments by 30% after hyperscalers' interest in on-site and nearby batteries converted into firm orders this year, the consultancy said in an outlook reported by Utility Dive.
Storage sited at data centers is expected to reach 4.9 GW/7.4 GWh in 2026, nearly ten times the 500 MW/1.4 GWh recorded in 2025. BNEF projects 6.3 GW/8.4 GWh for 2027. Bain has projected $5 trillion to $6.5 trillion of data center spending through 2030, as Private Wealth Daily previously reported.
For allocators funding these projects, the tax calendar now sets the build schedule: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act extended federal tax credit eligibility for storage through 2035 while letting solar eligibility lapse later this decade. BNEF attaches a pipeline of 83.7 GW/166.1 GWh of storage paired with 149.2 GW of solar to that combination. Sourcing faces the same math: import limits on foreign-made power conversion systems and a combined 40.9% duty on stationary storage batteries from mainland China decide which cells and inverters reach a site.
Suppliers are already booking demand. Fluence Energy signed a $300 million deal with a data center operator for behind-the-meter batteries earlier this year. BNEF also points to NextEra Energy's planned 2.6-GW battery array alongside a 2-GW gas-fired plant at a proposed $100 billion Brookfield Asset Management computing campus in Kentucky.
The 2027 projection of 6.3 GW/8.4 GWh implies about 29% growth on this year's expected 4.9 GW.
Reported by the Energy Transition desk from Utility Dive, BNEF industry outlook, as reported by Utility Dive and Private Wealth Daily archive: bain-projects-5tn-to-6-5tn-data-center-spending-through-2030. Published . Corrections