Long Duration Energy Storage

What is Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES)?

Long duration energy storage is defined as a technology storing energy in various forms including chemical, thermal, mechanical, or electrochemical. These resources dispatch energy or heat for extended periods of time ranging from 8 hours, to days, weeks, or seasons. Long duration energy storage is critical for decarbonizing the energy sectors.

What and Why of LDES?

Long Duration Energy Storage is the technology that enables renewable energy to power our grids and accelerate carbon neutrality. Through long duration energy storage we can transition towards renewable energy in an affordable, reliable and sustainable way. Wind, solar and other renewables are becoming the lowest cost forms of generation but need storage to match supply with demand. Consumer demand means that peaks in the morning and evening need to be met by extra supply. Today we meet the imbalance in supply and demand by still burning fossil fuels. Now is the time to use flexible long duration energy storage to achieve net carbon neutrality. The world’s electricity grids will need to deploy 8 TW of long duration energy storage by 2040 with a market potential of USD 4 trillion.

The need to ensure an affordable, reliable, clean energy system has been exacerbated by recent challenges in the energy sector, which have increased the prominence of energy security on global agendas. Incorporating LDES can help increase the security of supply and create new use cases for renewable energy. LDES can also unlock new opportunities that are not thoroughly addressed by shorter-duration storage solutions. Examples include: helping increase the share of renewables in the energy mix, providing resilience to unreliable grids at long durations (like at isolated or off-grid locations), enabling cost-efficient 24/7 renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs), or providing stability services to the grid.

Direct and indirect benefits from including storage in a net zero energy system

Diversity in Duration and Technologies

Several storage technologies, such as pumped storage hydropower—with over 90% of storage capacity on grids today—lithium-ion batteries and molten salt, are already widely deployed today. Shorter duration options will continue to play an essential and growing role as the energy transition gathers pace. However, there is a wide range of other storage technologies that will also play a significant role. In addition to pumped storage hydropower, other forms of mechanical storage include compressed air and liquid CO2. Chemical storage technologies like green hydrogen-based fuels store energy in chemical bonds. Thermal energy storage stores energy in the form of heat6. Electrochemical batteries come in a wide range of chemistries with different usage profiles to complement lithium-ion. The diversity of technologies on offer provides resilience in respect of global supply chains and fulfils different needs in energy systems.

Storage Applications

A Call to Action

• The 3XRenewables by 2030 and wider Paris Agreement goals will not be met if storage does not expand faster than current trends to 2030.

• We call on national governments to agree to a global target of 1.5TW of energy storage by 2030 at COP29.

• Beyond 2030 there will be an increasing need for longer duration and larger capacities. Additional targets should be set at later COPs for further in the future, with a process to set them agreed at COP29.

• Governments should start planning for their flexibility needs now, assessing what will be required to deliver their commitments under the Paris Agreement, setting their individual targets, and implementing enabling policy to meet those targets. In particular, they should set storage targets within their new Nationally Determined Contributions