A recent analysis of America’s grid-scale battery manufacturing industry revealed that it’s now capable of fully meeting the storage needs of the growing percentage of America’s electric supply produced by wind and solar.
In his story titled “Suddenly, the US manufactures a ton of grid batteries,” Canary Media’s Julian Spector reports that batteries will account for roughly 28% of new U.S. power-plant capacity built this year. In addition, the country now has more than enough battery-making factories to meet the demand.
This development is especially remarkable because, according to Spector, “the U.S. had ‘effectively zero’ factory capacity for battery cells designed for grid usage.” But, by the close of 2025, U.S. factories operated by companies that include Fluence, LG, Samsung SDI, SK On, and Tesla had brought enough capacity online to annually produce about 70 GWh of finished grid storage systems.
For example, LG Energy Solution’s Holland Michigan-based LFP battery plant was recently expanded to produce 25 GWh worth of storage per year (see image above). Barring unforeseen circumstances, it’s expected that the capacity of these and several new ventures will grow to 145 GWh/year by the close of 2026.
Spector does note that the onshoring trend is still being hampered by limited supplies of domestically sourced lithium, carbon, and other battery materials. He did say, though, that the industry is on track to solve this through rapidly evolving battery recycling technologies and development of North American mining operations.
Despite the challenges, grid-scale storage systems are dramatically improving the economics of renewably produced electricity. They store excess power and release it to maintain a steady supply as wind speed varies or the Sun sets. This is particularly notable since the U.S. installed 43 GW of new solar capacity in 2025 (the fifth consecutive year that solar led all new U.S. capacity additions).
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, solar and energy storage together accounted for 79% of newly installed capacity during the first year of the Trump administration, as detailed in the U.S. Solar Market Insight 2025 Year in Review report.
