Grid-Scale Batteries Improve Reliability and Cut Costs, But Canada Has Been Slow to Respond

Source: Eyab Al-Aini | · CLIMATE INSTITUTE · | December 12, 2025

Why battery storage is booming and how Canada can use it to its advantage.

Electricity grids are entering a new era where large-scale batteries will be critical tools that provide flexibility and reliability for the grid at low cost. 

As renewables surge, providing 40 per cent of global power generation in 2024, large-scale battery storage systems are also being built faster than ever. Deployment has been highest in China, which has two thirds of the world’s share of battery storage capacity, according to Rho Motion, a battery business research consultancy. The United States has the second highest share.

Canada lags behind its global peers in deploying the game-changing technology, ranking 20th in that same list. To catch up, Canadian policy makers need to encourage battery deployment by creating mechanisms that reward the reliability and flexibility the technology has to offer. 

Let’s dig into some of the factors driving the battery boom, and how Canada can use them to its advantage.

Battery costs are falling fast

Batteries are a game changer for the electricity sector because they can perform tasks that were once economically and technically unviable. Not only do they store and release electricity when it is needed most, quickly balancing supply and demand to improve reliability,  they also relieve power congestion when sited appropriately. This captures low-cost power, called curtailment, that would otherwise be wasted.