US research firm Intertek CEA says wider adoption of 587Ah battery cells could lower the cost of standard battery energy storage system (BESS) containers through 2027, even as lithium carbonate prices have risen sharply.
From ESS News
Wider adoption of 587Ah battery cells is likely to reduce BESS costs despite a sharp increase in lithium carbonate prices, according to Intertek CEA’s first-quarter storage price forecast.
Cell-level energy density gains from the 587Ah format are modest on their own, at roughly 20%, said Intertek CEA.
But original equipment manufacturers designing BESS modules and racks around the new cell architecture are fitting the same number of cells into each module, producing a 60% to 80% increase in energy density at the module or rack level, the firm said. That reduces balance-of-system costs on a per-kilowatt-hour basis by cutting the number of components needed upstream of the module.
