Rising Need for Backup Power Driving Flywheel Energy Storage System Demand

Developing countries, such as China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and Russia, are generating a huge requirement for constant electricity supply, owing to the accelerating industrialization rate. To meet the vast electricity demand, flywheel energy storage systems are being deployed in power plants, due to their excellent discharge cycles, low maintenance, and high load bearing characteristics. Additionally, the extensive need for backup power sources and large-scale integration of intermittent power sources will also encourage the deployment of flywheels in the upcoming years.  

Moreover, the rising need for appropriate energy storage technology to power military operations, ground vehicles, navigation communications, weapons, and their associated intelligent systems will facilitate the flywheel energy storage market growth during the forecast period (2021–2030). According to P&S Intelligence, the market generated around $300.0 million revenue in 2020. A flywheel energy storage system improves the stability of military weapons and vehicles and facilitates current penetration in power systems.  

At present, data centers are the largest users of flywheel energy storage systems, due to the extensive backup power demand at such centers. In situations of a transient power outage, such systems offer instant power to the connected systems, owing to which backup generators get sufficient time to start. Additionally, flywheels also find applications in the automotive, manufacturing, aerospace, marine, and defense industries, owing to the escalating demand for electricity supply in these industries.  

The application segment of the flywheel energy storage market is classified into distributed energy generation (DEG), uninterruptable power supply (UPS), and others, such as power quality improvement systems, frequency regulators, voltage regulators, and circuit breakers. Under this segment, the UPS category held the largest market share in 2020, and it is projected to exhibit significant growth during the forecast period. This can be owed to the soaring need for effective power backup alternatives, especially in emerging economies, and burgeoning demand for continuous electricity supply across industries. 

Whereas, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) flywheel energy storage market is expected to demonstrate the fastest growth during the forecast period. This will be due to the escalating demand for continuous power supply and the increasing number of government initiatives to supply clean energy. For instance, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, under the Government of India, has initiated the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) to scale up the sizes of solar power plant projects in the country. The Ministry has also rolled out several schemes for small wind energy and hybrid systems (SWES) to increase wind energy capacity in India. 

Therefore, the soaring electricity demand in developing countries and the rising need for appropriate energy storage technology in the military sector will facilitate the deployment of flywheel energy storage systems worldwide.

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