According to a new and updated technical market research report, Advanced Battery Technology and Markets (FCB024D) from BCC Research, the global market for large and advanced batteries was worth $8.9 billion in 2007. This is expected to increase to over $11.4 billion by 2012, a compound average annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.1%.

The market is broken down into motive, advanced portable, advanced stationary, hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and plug-in, and developmental applications. Of these, advanced portable has the largest share of the market. Valued at $3.4 billion in 2007, this segment is expected to be worth $4.2 billion by 2012, a CAGR of 4.1%.

The second largest segment, advanced stationary, was worth an estimated $3 billion in 2007 and will reach $3.7 billion by 2012. The largest increase in this segment will be for uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and smaller remote stationary applications to protect data during power outages. For instance, the global UPS battery market is expected to grow from $2.5 billion in 2007 to over $3 billion by 2012.

Motive is currently a $1.6 billion segment that will be worth $1.7 billion in 2012, a CAGR of 1.3%. Motive applications include the largely mature markets for traction, marine and aviation batteries.

The $789 million HEV and plug-in segment will reach $1.5 billion by 2012, a CAGR of 14.3%. The current battery technology dominating this market is nickel metal hydride. It still is expected to play a dominant role by 2012. Lithium-ion technologies should show increasing importance in this market by 2012, provided that costs can be reduced and safety concerns addressed.

Until about 20 years ago, the battery market was considered mature, with demand closely related to sales of either automobiles or various consumer products. Since then, advanced batteries have helped spark a dramatic change in this relationship.