World needs more energy storage to achieve decarbonisation goals

The pace of addition should scale 50 times faster.

Countries were told to rapidly deploy more long duration energy storage (LDES) technologies to reach eight terawatts (TW) by 2040 to ensure new renewable energy facilities coming online are efficiently integrated and achieve decarbonisation targets.

According to the inaugural report from the Long Duration Energy Storage Council, the 2040 target for LDES capacity needs the current 0.22 TW to scale up by 50 times. To achieve this, the council is pushing for a dedicated energy storage target pledge of 1.5 TW by 2030 to be set at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29).

The council noted that an energy storage target is required to support the 11 TW goal set at COP28 last year. Through such technology, excess energy during peak generation can be stored and released during high demand.

“This flexibility is vital for maintaining grid stability, reducing costs, supporting industry, utilising infrastructure more efficiently and providing benefits to communities,” the council said.

“Additionally, widespread deployment of LDES contributes to improving global health by reducing hazardous air pollution and fosters economic growth through the creation of new skilled jobs,” it said.

The LDES Council projects that building 8 TW of LDES solutions by 2040 represents a $4t investment opportunity that could deliver as much as $540b in system cost savings annually.