This article caught my eye. It features Energy Storage for the Commercial and Industrial (C&I) segment and it's expected growth to 124 GWh by 2030 with a 31.6% CAGR, according to according to research from ABI Research in NY, USA.

It was a timely piece to read. I'm just back from meeting various companies in Europe, two of which were focused on behind the meter ESS solutions for C&I customers (in their case these included commercial real estate, datacenters, microgrids for remote industry (mining, agriculture etc)). 

These companies targeted C&I because of the wide range of commercial drivers, whether it be basic congestion management, avoiding curtailment costs, energy trading, or ultimately opening up opportunities as a VPP (co-located with rooftop PV, EV Charging infrastructure, and smart clean building technologies) Ultimately, the rise of off-grid distributed energy is going to be a huge growth area as it is not yet saturated like other segments.

For some time, C&I seems to have been the "forgotten sibling" compared to Residential and Utility-scale segments but many are now turning their attention to C&I, given ROI times for Utility-scale and the continued squeeze on margins in residential (tied to solar PV) - particularly with the influx of Asia players bringing low-cost solutions into Europe. 

Of course, many of these larger players have not ignored C&I, but it is not the core segment of focus and this therefore presents opportunities for new players to make their mark!

Here at Hyperion we've seen a steady rise in smart, clean building developments and this offers a huge opportunity for C&I ESS players to offer smart ESS across multiple sites in multiple locations, particularly those companies with smart EMS which can integrate into the wider smart control infrastructure. 

The beauty of this segment is that C&I companies have deep pockets and high ambitions for decarbonisation, so the customer appetite is certainly there!

It will be an interesting 12-18 months to see who will be the movers and shakers of C&I Energy Storage. 

I lead the Energy Storage & Grid practice at Hyperion Executive Search. We help ESS clients to hire top talent from mid-senior to executive levels. If you're growing your team and need the support of an expert search firm, then get in touch today at david.beeston@hyperionsearch.com