Trump Tariffs Threaten Spread of Big Batteries on the Power Grid
Analysts say the trade war will pile costs onto the fast-growing US energy storage industry — and slow it down.
Power transmission lines connecting to the Crimson Battery Energy Storage Project in Blythe, California.
Photographer: Bing Guan/BloombergPresident Donald Trump’s trade war threatens to slow down a fast-growing technology that’s key to the clean-power transition and preventing blackouts — big batteries.
Energy storage devices large enough to feed the electric grid have been spreading across the US, with deployments surging 33% last year. Officials in California and Texas credit them with helping prevent blackouts during heat waves, when electricity demand soars, and integrating variable solar and wind power onto the grid. But despite efforts by former President Joe Biden to build a domestic supply chain, the US still relies heavily on imported lithium-ion batteries — with 69% of the imports made in China, according to the BloombergNEF research provider.