In This Article:
- Battery Storage: The Secret to Supercharging Our Power Grid
- Fluence Energy: The Energy Stock that Doubled in the Last 4 Months
- Landmark Legislation is Paving the Way for an Energy Storage Gold Rush
- Battery Storage Answers the World’s Power Problem
- Will YOUR Future Be Battery-Powered?
In 2014, I left the world behind.
I grabbed my favorite surfboard…
I threw everything else I owned into storage…
And I set out for Nicaragua.
Talk about paradise.
After 20 years in high finance, it was exactly the break I needed.
I left behind the manic trading floors of New York City. And I made my way to the secluded beaches and wind-blown palm trees of Central America.
There were endless waves to surf, wonderful people to meet and amazing sights to see.
It wasn’t all a dream come true though.
Because shortly after I settled in, the power blacked out.
I didn’t worry at first.
A few hours without A/C wasn’t more than an inconvenience.
But after the power came back on, I met my neighbors.
They told me blackouts could last up to a week, and they came often!
These constant blackouts were a nightmare for businesses, hospitals and residents.
At the time, I was shocked.
After all, we’re spoiled for power here in America.
Our electrical grid is the largest interconnected machine on Earth.
We’ve got 200,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and another 5.5 million miles of local distribution lines.
So prolonged power outages have just never been a problem for us.
Until now, that is…
Last year, a historic winter storm rocked Texas.
The whole state was afflicted. Temperatures in Dallas briefly plunged below those in Anchorage, Alaska.
The freeze got so bad it shut down the state’s gas plants and left millions without power for nearly a week.
By the time power was restored five days later, 200 people had died. Then earlier this month, a record heat wave scorched California.
It got so bad that on September 5, authorities sent this SMS text message to residents.
The message begged recipients to cut power usage and help avoid a blackout:
“That is a tool of absolute last resort,” said Elliot Mainzer, who runs the state’s power grid.
California barely skirted a blackout.
Meanwhile Midwestern states like Wisconsin and Iowa aren’t doing any better.
Utilities there may implement rolling blackouts to make it through the hottest days of summer.
Every time something like this happens, it just gets clearer:
We need energy alternatives to keep growing.
I’m not just talking about solar, wind or hydropower either.
Those have all been around for decades.
But they’ve always been missing a key ingredient…
Until now.
Over the last decade, a new technology has transformed what’s possible with renewable energy.
That’s why this sector’s leading stock is up 105% in the last four months…
Why Bloomberg expects it to grow 30% every year…
And why the industry is set to unlock a $16 trillion boom over the coming years.
Here’s how it will happen.
Battery Storage: The Secret to Supercharging Our Power Grid
A new kind of power source is showing up all over America.
It looks like this:
Installed near Lancaster, California, these boxes provide 127 megawatts (MW)/508 megawatt-hours (MWh) during peak hours.
That’s five times the power consumed by the mega-sized Mall of America.
According to GridLab Director Ric O’Connell:
During last week’s heat wave, California had more than 3.2 [gigawatts] … that’s 150 times more energy from just two years ago.
This cutting-edge technology is a miracle for California’s failing grid.
Now, it’s starting to spread all over the country.
I’m talking about battery technology.
As I reported just a few weeks ago, battery storage prices have plummeted over the last decade.
Back in 2010, a lithium-ion battery pack cost nearly $1,200.
But today, that same battery costs $140.
That’s a 90% decrease.
Affordable batteries aren’t just bailing out traditional power plants either.
Because the same batteries can be used to store energy collected by other renewable sources.
And as batteries have gotten cheaper, the rate of adoption for renewables has soared:
As you can see, this breakthrough came at the perfect time.
Solar is now the “cheapest electricity in history,” according to the International Energy Association.
When you combine that with affordable batteries, you get a renewable solution for round-the-clock power demand.
That has led us to “sort of a ‘storage moment,’” according to one Department of Energy (DOE) official:
We’re looking for batteries to do for transportation and the electricity grid what they’ve done for personal electronics, to really make a huge change in the way these systems operate.
CNBC is calling the 2020s “the Battery Decade,” anticipating $426 billion in new battery investments.
Last week, Goldman Sachs acquired a majority stake in EPC Power Corp. That means Goldman is betting a fortune on the future of renewables and energy storage.
Over the summer, this whole sector has really reached fever pitch.
Just look at the industry leader…
Fluence Energy: The Energy Stock that Doubled in the Last 4 Months
California’s new battery facilities were built by Fluence Energy (Nasdaq: FLNC).
Fluence was founded in 2018 as a joint venture between two industrial titans — Siemens and AES.
These two companies realized energy storage would be essential to their future success.
So they took initiative, teamed up and created their own company.
Fluence offers modular energy storage products that work for power grids, solar farms and even large office buildings:
These solutions are catching on like wildfire.
The company already has 185 projects in 30 different markets.
It also has exclusivity with parent company AES.
Its utility clients include PG&E, NGE, Tata Power in India and Edify in Australia.
It’s even working with the San Miguel Corporation in the Philippines.
On a call with my team, Fluence’s vice president of investor relations, Lexington May, commented:
Demand is certainly not our problem. Given that you’re seeing such demand coming down the pipeline, that affords us the luxury to pick and choose the projects we want to work on.
For fiscal 2022, the company’s guidance expects 60% to 90% year-on-year growth.
That means its business could nearly double each year.
By 2024, analysts expect the company will break even and begin turning a profit.
Then by 2025, revenues are projected to top $3.1 billion:
Fluence was recommended to True Momentum subscribers in May of this year.
Since then, share prices have more than doubled (a 98.23% open gain at time of publishing).
Fluence isn’t alone either.
Landmark Legislation is Paving the Way for an Energy Storage Gold Rush
Other energy storage stocks have been on the rise this summer too:
It’s not just due to rapid adoption, either.
Most of these gains are thanks to the $400 billion climate bill Congress passed this August.
The bill includes a new 20% investment tax credit (ITC) for standalone energy storage.
That might not sound like much, but it’s an incentive that could unleash a tidal wave of demand for batteries.
We’ve seen what happened with the 30% ITC for solar installations.
That program was first introduced in 2006.
Since then, solar installations have grown by 19,184%!
I expect to see a similar result for energy storage.
Remember, Americans are wrestling with a failing power grid.
So the government is setting aggressive deadlines for going carbon neutral.
Biden’s White House aims to achieve 100% carbon pollution-free electricity by 2030.
With this new bill, the government is putting up real money to make that possible.
That’s why these energy stocks are booming…
Why AES and Fluence are rolling out new facilities as fast as they can…
And why an Arizona utility is set to build 850 MW of new storage by 2028.
(That’s more battery power than the entire country had until just a few years ago.)
I expect the pace of new construction will keep picking up.
Then by 2050, they estimate we’ll have 6,000 gigawatt-hours of storage … almost 75X today’s levels!
Battery Storage Answers the World’s Power Problem
Battery storage stocks offer investors a unique opportunity in the energy space.
Because batteries work with almost any power source.
They can be charged up with traditional coal or gas generators, or you can use renewable resources like wind or solar power.
So they’re not just about investing in Next Gen tech…
They’re also a perfect “Band-Aid” for failing power grids like California’s.
Instead of worrying about rolling blackouts, residents can install local battery systems to keep their homes running.
My colleague Ted Bauman recently installed one of these battery systems at his home in South Africa.
“Having battery backup means we don’t even notice when blackouts are happening,” he told me. “The next step is solar panels, once I can get my hands on some.”
We could soon start seeing systems like those here in the U.S.
Winning Investor Nation, you know I’ve long been a fan of renewable energy, especially solar power.
Energy storage is absolutely crucial to helping renewable energy reach its $16 trillion potential.
If you’d like more details on my favorite renewable plays, click here.
Will YOUR Future Be Battery-Powered?
But enough from me. Now I’d like to hear from you!
Would you install battery storage in your home if the price was right? Why or why not?
Home Energy Storage is the perfect companion for solar panels. But it can also be a lifesaver in the event of a backup or a major storm.
Email me your thoughts at [email protected].
I’m looking forward to hearing your takes on the future of energy.
You can look out for my responses in this Saturday’s edition of RAD!
Regards,
Ian King
Editor, Strategic Fortunes