25 companies have united to provide guidance to governments and grid operators on long duration energy storage (LDES) technologies, which supply clean power 24 hours a day. The aims are to enable global deployment of 85 - 140 TWh of long duration energy storage by 2040, to eliminate the 1.5 to 2.3 Gt of CO2 produced annually from fossil fuels, and address grid energy imbalances.

“The power sector accounts for roughly one-third of global emissions. With increased use of long duration energy storage, we can reduce emissions with up to 2.3 Gt CO2 to 2040 and create grid net-zero,” says Jonas Eklind, CEO of Azelio.

Energy generation of renewables is unpredictable and energy needs cannot be limited to certain hours of the day. That is why fossil fuels have been needed to counteract grid energy imbalances and changes in energy production, balancing the misalignment between periods of shortfall in electricity supply.

“To increase the use of renewables in our energy system, we need to make intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind available on demand. Long duration energy storage is the lynchpin to decarbonisation, as it can cost-effectively store energy from wind, solar and other renewables, and make it available when needed,” says Jonas Eklind.

With an increased use of renewable energy, having sufficient capacity in place to meet demand is key to succeeding. As a first step, building momentum for net-zero would require 1 TWh of storage capacity by 2025. Only 7% of the required capacity exists today.

Global deployment of 85 - 140 TWh of long duration energy storage will cover around 10% of all electricity consumed and required between US$ 1.5 and 3 trillion in investment. This corresponds to approximately 4 to 7 times the total TWh global lithium-ion deployment today and approximately 5 to 11 times the total investment in renewable power in 2020.