
LDES encompasses a group of conventional and novel technologies, including mechanical, thermal, electrochemical, and chemical storage, that can be deployed competitively to store energy for prolonged periods and scaled up economically to sustain electricity provision, for days or even weeks. 1 What they can provide is system flexibility—the ability to absorb and manage fluctuations in demand and supply by storing energy at times of surplus and releasing it when needed. [pdf]
This document explores the definition of “long duration” as applied to energy storage. Given the growing use of this term, a uniform definition could aid in communication and consistency among various stakeholders. There is large and growing use of the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) definition of greater than 10 hours.
However, the term “long-duration energy storage” is often used as shorthand for storage with sufficient duration to provide firm capacity and support grid resource adequacy. The actual duration needed for this application varies significantly from as little as a few hours to potentially multiple days.
In a new paper published in Nature Energy, Sepulveda, Mallapragada, and colleagues from MIT and Princeton University offer a comprehensive cost and performance evaluation of the role of long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies in transforming energy systems.
Some key observations include: Energy Storage Capacity: Sensible heat storage and high-temperature TES systems generally offer higher energy storage capacities compared to latent heat-based storage and thermochemical-based energy storage technologies.
Long-duration energy storage technologies can be a solution to the intermittency problem of wind and solar power but estimating technology costs remains a challenge. New research identifies cost targets for long-duration storage technologies to make them competitive against different firm low-carbon generation technologies.
The technology landscape may allow for a diverse range of storage applications based on land availability and duration need, which may be location dependent. These insights are valuable to guide the development of long-duration energy storage projects and inspire potential use cases for different long-duration energy storage technologies.
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