Long duration energy storage must scale 50x faster to reach net zero

In its annual report for 2024 – its first annual report – the LDES Council has issued a major wake-up call to global energy policymakers that LDES capacity needs to be ramped up urgently.

The organization said LDES capacity needs to scale up to 50 times faster than currently projected, adding that LDES technologies – including thermal and power storage – are essential to achieving net zero.

“There is no time to waste,” the council’s co-presidents said in the report’s foreward. “The LDES Council seeks to demonstrate indisputably that, alongside the accelerated deployment of renewable energy, LDES must be elevated to the core of decarbonization strategies.”

If we are to reach net zero globally, we need 1.5 TW of LDES capacity by 2030 and up to 8 TW by 2040. As of 2023, we have 115 GW installed. Incorporating LDES can enable the decarbonization of energy across multiple sectors, such as manufacturing, agriculture, construction, oil and gas, and transport.

The LDES Council has shared a list of seven key recommendations, or “enablers” for scaling LDES.

The first three are focused on raising awareness of LDES technologies. The battle to deploy more LDES begins with building knowledge among policymakers, stakeholders, and regulators. They need to conduct assessments of the need for LDES and set targets, all of which requires them to understand its potential to contribute to decarbonization.

Financing is the next main hurdle. The council recommends the allocation of pre-commercial funding, the provision of market access and long-term revenue visibility, as well as the implementation of efficient grid pricing.

Policies that allow for long-term stability such as Cap and Floor schemes, long term capacity payments, and long term fixed revenue streams are needed. Early-stage LDES technologies need better backing to ensure innovation happens. The final ‘key enabler’ is to enable ease of connection for LDES technologies to the grid.

The council estimates that the buildout of LDES by 2040 represents a $4 trillion investment opportunity that could deliver up to $540 billion in system cost savings annually. In Feb. 2024, a report by IDTechEx said the LDES market could hit $223 billion in 20 years.

In addition to the report’s recommendations, the LDES Council offers an LDES Deployment Toolkit on its website, aimed at “key actors across the ecosystem to speed deployment and unlock the powerful system benefits LDES delivers.”