Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) Council will be launched today at COP26 with a mission to replace the use of fossil fuels in meeting energy imbalances with zero-carbon alternatives.
The Council has united to provide guidance to governments and grid operators, and will publish a strategic report on LDES technologies, with the aim of enabling the global deployment of 85-140 TWh of long duration energy storage by 2040.
This would see dispatchable renewable energy used to eliminate the 1.5 to 2.3 Gt of CO2 produced annually from fossil fuels to meet grid energy imbalances.
The LDES Council is a CEO-led organization being established by 25 founder members including BP, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, ESS, Form Energy and Siemens Energy.
The LDES Council comprises technology providers, equipment providers, renewable energy companies, utilities, grid operators, investors, and end-customers.
Energy generation with renewables is unpredictable due to the nature of wind and solar power, while energy consumption sees daily peaks around early morning and evening.
This misalignment creates periods of shortfall in electricity supply which is currently largely met by burning fossil fuels, especially natural gas.
Lithium-ion batteries offer an alternate solution by storing renewable electricity but become too expensive for long storage durations beyond eight hours.
The LDES Council has been formed to support Governments, grid operators and major electricity users in the most cost-effective adoption of energy storage to replace the use of fossil fuels.
On November 23 2021 the LDES Council will publish its first annual report on the need for long duration energy storage to reach NetZero carbon emissions.
The report, based on extensive research and collaboration of Council members, concludes that 1.5-2.5 TW and 85-140 TWh LDES could be deployed globally by 2040.
This will cover around 10% of global electricity consumed and require between US$1.5 and $US3trillion (€2.6trillion) in investment, and represent ~4X-7X the total TWh global lithium-ion deployment today and ~5X-11X the total investment in renewable power in 2020.
Long duration energy storage is already increasing momentum with over US$3 billion invested in technology providers in the last five years.
In the near future, building the momentum to reach NetZero will require 1 TWh of capacity to be deployed globally by 2025 with over US$50bn investment. Globally only around 7% of this required storage capacity exists today.
While supporting the deployment of long duration energy storage, the LDES Council is independent of any specific technology and its members span the spectrum of innovation from low-cost flow batteries to compressed gas solutions to mechanical energy storage.
Through is research and communications the LDES Council will also provide guidance to governments and grid operators on the appropriate solutions for specific applications.
Energy storage technologies represented by the LDES Council include pumped hydro, batteries, synthetic gasses and molten salt.