The US energy storage market added record levels of new capacity at the end of last year on its way to what analysts predicted will be a $7.2bn market by 2025.

The deployment of a quarterly record 186MW and 362MWh in the final three months of 2019 capped what a new study called a “remarkable year” for the storage sector in which a total 523MW was deployed.

That is expected to balloon to 7.3GW by 2025, with a market value increasing from $712m last year to $7.2bn, a growth mainly driven by utility procurement, said the Energy Storage Association (ESA) and Wood Mackenzie’s latest US Energy Storage Monitor.

The record 2019 Q4 was led by 160% quarter-on-quarter growth in the front-of-meter – or grid-side – deployment, with Massachusetts the leading state for deployment. California was the leader in the behind-the-meter (BTM) segment.

“2019 was a remarkable year for energy storage and the record-breaking fourth quarter numbers reaffirm the industry’s tremendous growth,” said Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of the ESA.

“The electricity system of today and tomorrow relies on energy storage expansion, inclusion and integration. To accelerate its resilience, reliability, and economic benefits, it is critical that federal lawmakers enact a standalone federal energy storage tax credit.”

“The BTM segment had a banner year,” said Brett Simon, Wood Mackenzie senior analyst. “California continues to be a market to watch and we expect almost one in four residential solar systems across the state to have storage attached in 2020.”