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For all the excitement over lithium-ion batteries, the energy storage field has yet to come up with the key to the next step in the energy transition. Li-ion batteries only last a handful of hours, but the wind and solar-saturated grid of the future needs storage on an all-day scale, if not multiple days and more. On the plus side, activity has been stirring in the thermal energy storage area, and now flow batteries are making their move.
The Long Road To Long Duration Energy Storage
Somewhat ironically, a century-old technology still accounts for almost all of the long duration energy storage capacity in the US, that being pumped hydropower (see more pumped storage background here).
Lithium-ion batteries have been chewing away around the edges, but the US Department of Energy has set a benchmark of 10 hours or more for long duration energy storage, and that that’s where Li-ion runs into snags related to cost and supply chain limitation, among other issues.
