Sept. 25, 2025
By George Richardson
The New Measure of Progress
The clean energy transition has been defined by how much solar and wind capacity we can install. But in 2025, a different measure is emerging as the critical marker of progress: how much of that energy we can store. Storage isn’t a supporting act anymore. It’s the hinge point of the entire system.
From Abundance to Bottlenecks
Renewables are no longer marginal players. In some markets, they already supply over 40 percent of power demand. But without storage, their volatility creates systemic risk. The result is curtailment, grid strain, and price spikes that erode confidence in the transition. India is a case in point. The country has met its non-fossil capacity target five years early, but its storage base sits at just 6 GW. By 2030, it needs 61 GW to avoid bottlenecks. Without it, the promise of cheap, abundant clean energy risks turning into instability and stranded assets.
The Economics of Stored Power
Storage isn’t just an engineering fix. It’s an economic multiplier. In markets like California, large-scale batteries are cutting peak costs and reducing reliance on gas. Modelling shows that every gigawatt of added storage can save billions in avoided curtailment and system balancing. For investors, storage turns intermittent renewables into bankable infrastructure. The private capital shift is already underway. Brookfield, KKR, and Macquarie are all scaling into storage-linked platforms, treating it as core infrastructure rather than an optional add-on.
Beyond Lithium
Lithium-ion dominates grid-scale projects today, but its limitations are clear - cost, supply chain exposure, and duration. Long-duration storage technologies are moving from pilot to pipeline: solid-state, sodium-ion, thermal, and flow batteries are all advancing. Leaders now face a strategic choice. Do they double down on the proven, or place early bets on what could define the next decade? Getting that balance wrong risks technological lock-in or wasted capital.
A Test of Vision and Leadership
Until now, storage has largely been treated as a technical story, an engineering challenge of chemistry, capacity, and cost curves. That view is no longer sufficient. Scaling storage is not just a technical challenge. It is a test of vision and leadership. Boards must allocate capital decisively in a fragmented technology landscape. Executives must navigate supply chain volatility while forging cross-sector partnerships; from utilities to hyperscalers to industrials. And critically, leaders must ensure storage is integrated into national energy strategies, not treated as an afterthought to generation.
The Main Act of the Transition
Storage rarely makes headlines. But it is the quiet force determining how far and how fast the energy transition can go. With it, renewables can scale to dominance. Without it, the transition will stall. The winners of the next decade will not be those who simply build more wind and solar. They will be those who unlock stored power - stable, scalable, and investable.
Final Thought
There is no silver bullet to the energy transition. Storage is a vital element that will allow us to decarbonise successfully, but it is not going to happen overnight. It must be scaled alongside renewables, reinforced grid infrastructure, and a rethinking of how we balance reliability, cost, and equity. Capital must flow into both proven and emerging technologies, policymakers must create the frameworks for long-duration solutions, and leaders must bridge the gap between ambition and delivery.
That final point is critical. Technology and capital alone cannot deliver the transition. Success depends on leadership - the ability of boards and executives to make decisive choices, to navigate volatility, and to build organisations capable of sustaining momentum over decades. This is where executive search, succession planning, and leadership development play a quiet but fundamental role. By helping organisations identify and empower the right people, we can ensure that ambition is matched by execution.
Progress will not come from a single breakthrough. It will come from the vision, investment, and leadership to weave together storage, renewables, grids, and governance into a resilient global energy system.