As storage technology plays a widening role in an energy culture that has become increasingly reliant on renewables and efficiency, the market for the technology has grown in equal measure.

According to a recent study, the U.S. energy storage market has enjoyed a robust quarter and is on track for more record-breaking growth.

The most recent “U.S. Energy Storage Monitor”, which is released quarterly by GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association, finds that, in a year-over-year comparison, growth in the market was modest. Total capacity expanded only about 1 percent, from 41 megawatts (MW) in the second quarter of 2015 to 41.2 MW for the second quarter of 2016.

In a quarter-to-quarter comparison, growth is more dramatic. The storage market expanded by 126 percent, from 18.3 MW in the first quarter of this year.

The monitor identifies other factors suggesting continuing growth going forward. Geographic and market-segment diversification, combined with support in the form of federal government commitments, should help the market stay on a path of expansion.

The study points to a large, front-of the-meter project in Indiana and a solar-plus-storage project in Ohio as examples of geographic diversification. Recent commitments announced by the White House that could lead to 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of new storage deployments also give the market a boost. A 66-percent growth in year-over-year deployments of behind-the-meter (residential and commercial) storage also show that the market has matured and is ready to grow on multiple fronts.

GTM Research forecasts 287 MW of energy storage in 2016, representing a 30-percent annual growth rate. The research firm further projects the market to grow ninefold, from 226 MW in 2015 to more than 2.1 GW by 2021.