Storage targets nearly triple since COP29, but still fall 45% short of 1,500 GW pledge

The analysis also finds a close relationship between solar and storage ambition: countries with large storage targets tend to have large solar targets too. But that link breaks down among some of the biggest solar markets.

Of the top 20 solar capacity countries in the world, eight still have no 2030 storage target at all, including the US, Germany and Saudi Arabia, which are nonetheless already building storage at scale without one. The US has installed roughly 52 GW of utility-scale batteries and Saudi Arabia recently connected the world’s largest single battery project. Other large solar markets, including Poland, Austria, Switzerland and Brazil, lag on both storage targets and installations.

Strong deployment does not make targets redundant. Projects are progressing whether or not a target exists, but the progress is highly concentrated in a few markets, while many countries still have growing flexibility needs, little storage development and no target. Targets also address needs that capacity totals do not capture, such as operational planning, regulatory barriers and coordination between storage and renewables.

Storage is also central to delivering the next pledge on the table. Electrification is a focus of the upcoming COP31, with Türkiye’s presidency pushing a 35-by-35 Global Electrification Pledge to raise electricity’s share of final energy demand from around 20% to 35% by 2035. Ember’s analysis notes that this pledge can only deliver its climate and energy security benefits if the new demand it creates is met by renewables backed by adequate grids and storage.