- During New York Climate Week and the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80), the Global Solar Council (GSC) announced it would expand its mandate to represent both solar PV and battery storage – becoming the world’s first global trade association for battery storage.
- The move fills a critical market gap: until now, no global body has represented the rapidly growing battery storage sector, either in terms of manufacturing or project build-out, despite its indispensable role in achieving net zero emissions and energy security.
The announcement coincides with the launch of GSC’s comprehensive Grid & Storage Position Paper: Connecting the Sun, signalling the independent organisation’s evolution from a solar-only advocate to the definitive voice for the solar plus storage ecosystem, which is reshaping global energy markets, lowering energy costs, stabilizing the electric grid, and spurring economic growth.
“Today we are pioneering an entirely new era of global energy leadership,” said Sonia Dunlop, CEO of the Global Solar Council. “Until today, the world’s fastest-growing energy storage technology had no unified global voice. That changes now. Solar and storage have evolved from complementary technologies to an integrated solution transforming how the world thinks about reliable, locally produced power. GSC is stepping up to lead this transformation because we need to move beyond traditional silos. We need to help policymakers understand and implement the pivotal infrastructure this decade requires.”
Global battery capacity has experienced unprecedented growth, expanding from less than 1 GW in 2013 to over 155 GW today. Industry projections indicate an additional 350 GWh of capacity will come online in 2025 alone. Despite this, current short and long duration storage deployment falls dramatically short of the 1,500 GW of storage capacity required to triple renewable energy by 2030.
Annual storage investment reached $60 billion in 2024 and is poised for rapid growth. With today’s expansion, GSC is positioned to guide this capital toward maximum impact and invites stakeholders across the storage value chain to join them in uniting battery storage players from every corner of the world.
GSC’s Connecting the Sun report outlines specific actions for leaders converging in New York for UNGA80 to address this storage deficit and maintain momentum to triple renewables by 2030, including:
- Setting national storage targets integrated with wider system planning.
- Modernising electricity markets by allowing storage to provide grid services and rewarding flexibility.
- Facilitating regional super-grids and cross-border interconnections to enhance system flexibility.
- Unlocking capital for solar and storage in emerging markets through derisking mechanisms and innovative financing to accelerate deployment at the scale needed for energy transition.
- Accelerating next-generation technologies, such as grid-forming inverters, to increase flexibility and wider system resilience.
GSC’s evolution reflects a broader, sector-wide shift toward integration of solar plus storage, with more than 30% of new battery installations in 2024 paired with solar PV. In many markets, solar and storage has become the default deployment model. Battery costs have plummeted 93% since 2010, making storage economically viable across diverse applications, from utility-scale projects to residential systems.
To accelerate deployment, GSC is assembling a comprehensive, end-to-end battery storage coalition and has initiated partnerships with the Global Battery Alliance, the International Battery and Energy Storage Alliance (IBESA), and the Future Storage and Systems Integration Alliance (FESSIA) – spanning mining, manufacturing, deployment, and recycling.
Link to the paper here: Grid & Storage Position Paper: Connecting the Sun
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
