Big batteries store power to propel cars, light up buildings and keep businesses humming — and they can also power up a portfolio.
Last year, new energy storage installations passed 100 gigawatts globally for the first time, up 48% from 2024, according to BloombergNEF. By 2036, new installations could top 300 gigawatts, the research provider says.
[Sign up for stock news with our Invested newsletter.]
In the U.S., developers plan to build 24 gigawatts of new utility-scale battery storage in 2026, surpassing the previous year’s record addition of 15 gigawatts, the Energy Information Administration says.
“Energy storage has rapidly evolved from a niche clean-tech theme into core grid infrastructure, driven by the need to make intermittent renewables reliable and to support rising power demand from electrification and data centers,” says John Deal, managing director in the capital markets advisory practice at The Post Oak Group, an investment bank.
Energy Storage and Data Center Electricity Demand
Energy storage is only becoming more important as artificial intelligence data centers increase demand for electricity. Data center companies that want to use renewables instead of natural gas or nuclear energy generation will likely need to turn to battery solutions to maintain uninterrupted power supply.
Focus has been shifting from the renewable energy buildout to energy storage amid the increase in energy demand from data centers, says Evan Mills, financial advising analyst at Scholar Financial Advising. “It’s kind of shifted from, okay, we’re doing renewable energy and add-ons, to, how are we going to store all the energy that’s going to be needed for these big infrastructure changes?” he says.
While data center demand appears to be here for the long term, there are still risks in the emerging energy storage industry.
“The storage is definitely needed, especially if the energy demand for these big data centers is as great as people seem to think it will be,” Mills says. “So that’s kind of the focus, understanding what the shift is and whether the investment opportunity actually matches the need.”
Renewable Energy Storage and National Security
There is also a national security case to be made for energy storage linked to domestic renewable energy systems, which lessen exposure to fluctuations in global fossil fuel markets.
Europe, for example, has had to scramble (and pay high prices for) natural gas from the U.S. to wean itself from Russian gas amid the war in Ukraine. The Iran war and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key fossil fuel transit chokepoint, only exacerbated the issue for the continent.
The “Hormuz crisis turned energy storage from a climate argument into an energy security argument,” says Arif Gasilov, founder of sustainability and ESG consulting company Gasilov Group. “European wholesale price volatility makes the investment case for storage arguably stronger in Europe than the U.S. right now.”
With that in mind, here’s how investors can plug in:
— NextEra Energy Inc. (ticker: NEE)
— Brookfield Renewable Corp. (BEPC)
— Albemarle Corp. (ALB)
— Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (SQM)
— Contemporary Amperex Technology (OTC: CYATY)
— BYD Co. Ltd. (OTC: BYDDY)
— Fluence Energy Inc. (FLNC)
NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE)
“The major trend in storage specifically is the rising demand for utility-grade storage,” Deal says. “Utility customers have to underpin growth for this to be a meaningful trend, and investment at scale is trending up, set to grow dramatically in 2026. This is going to drive revenue all the way down the value chain and probably contribute to lowering prices for consumers.”
For utilities, he points to NextEra, a powerhouse in solar and wind electricity generation and a leader in battery storage. As of last year, the company had 3.6 gigawatts of operational battery systems at more than 50 sites around the U.S.
As a utility, NextEra can fit into portfolios as a defensive play because people need electricity in any economic environment.
Brookfield Renewable Corp. (BEPC)
Deal says the most attractive, risk-adjusted energy storage exposure at the moment lies in utilities and integrated developers. He points to Brookfield Renewable, which like NextEra can deploy storage at scale and benefits from stable cash flows. As of September, Brookfield had 80 gigawatt-hours of battery storage projects operating or in development, and within two years expects to have commissioned another 20 gigawatt-hours.
[Read: The Iran War and Hormuz Blockade’s Impact on Stocks in 5 Sectors]
Albemarle Corp. (ALB)
Although there are emerging battery technologies that may one day become more mainstream, right now most electric vehicle and grid storage batteries rely on lithium. The silvery white metal has to be mined.
Deal points out that there is a “picks and shovels” angle for investors to play in materials and components used in battery storage, including with lithium producers like Albemarle.
This U.S.-based company is one of the largest producers of lithium in the world, in addition to being vertically integrated, with mining, extraction and purification operations.
Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (SQM)
Deal points out that investing in lithium mining companies taps into growing demand for energy storage without relying on a single project or technology. That diversification can be important as many renewable energy companies and energy storage technologies haven’t yet stood the test of time.
Like Albemarle, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile is one of the largest lithium miners in the world. It also makes solar salts used to store and transfer heat in plants that use mirrors — rather than photovoltaic cells — to concentrate solar energy and produce electricity.
Contemporary Amperex Technology (OTC: CYATY)
Turning to what Deal calls the pure-growth side of the energy storage market, he points to battery manufacturers including this Chinese company. The company is the world’s biggest producer of batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems. It specializes in lithium-based batteries but has also been developing sodium-ion battery technology.
The company’s shares in China have been trading at record highs as the nation’s total scheduled lithium battery market is at record levels mainly because of strong demand for batteries for energy storage systems, according to local market research firm Dadong Times, as reported by CnEVPost.
BYD Co. Ltd. (OTC: BYDDY)
This Chinese company is also a major player in batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems. It is involved in research and development, manufacturing, sales, service and recycling of energy storage products including those used for utility-scale energy storage. The company has delivered 650 utility-scale, commercial and industrial, and residential projects in more than 100 countries.
While BYD represents the bull case for energy storage, that growth potential comes with significantly higher volatility, Deal says. “These companies offer direct exposure to surging storage demand, but their outlook is tightly linked to policy incentives, trade dynamics and supply chains that remain heavily concentrated in China,” he says. “As a result, shifts in tariffs, subsidies or geopolitical tensions can quickly swing margins and valuations.”
Fluence Energy Inc. (FLNC)
This energy storage products and services company has a global presence and is a joint venture between German multinational technology conglomerate Siemens AG (OTC: SIEGY) and American utility AES Corp. (AES). The large firms provide enviable stability in an industry where plenty of startups haven’t yet proven themselves.
Fluence has 50 gigawatt-hours of energy storage across nearly 300 projects in 48 markets around the world and says it has the largest deployed fleet of energy storage projects of any company.
More from U.S. News
7 Best Defense Stocks to Buy Now
7 Best Semiconductor Stocks to Buy for 2026
8 Best Green Stocks and ETFs to Buy in 2025
7 Energy Storage Stocks to Invest In originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 05/08/26: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.