From iron-air batteries to molten salt storage, a new wave of energy storage innovation is unlocking long-duration, low-cost resilience for tomorrow's grid.
Could a battery be a low-cost alternative to lithium-ion?
MIT engineers designed a battery made from inexpensive, abundant materials, that could provide low-cost backup storage for renewable energy sources. Less expensive than lithium-ion battery technology, the new architecture uses aluminum and sulfur as its two electrode materials with a molten salt electrolyte in between.
Oversupply of lithium-ion battery precursor and active materials – and of lithium iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries, especially in China – has driven energy storage system costs down, fueling a record 330 GWh of battery energy storage system (BESS) shipments in 2024.
Notably, our batteries were shown to be free from fire hazard and failure due to short circuits. As manufacturing-friendly sandwich-type or 3D cylindrical cathodes eliminate multi-stack electrodes, our batteries are cost-effective, long-lasting, and safe for stationary energy storage systems. Please wait while we load your content...
As energy storage system prices drop and production costs fall, global cathode and BESS producers are under significant pressure to constantly improve their products or face consolidation, or even extinction, in an increasingly competitive midstream battery manufacturing market.
CRU's hypothesis is that for battery storage technology to attain and retain significant market share, it must be able to keep improving in performance. That could be epitomized by more energy dense and durable batteries.
Why do lithium-ion batteries cost so much?
Lithium-ion battery (LIB) production costs have fallen sharply since their commercial debut in the 1990s, as manufacturing scaled up. That included a scale-up of the mining and material and component supply streams to support the growth of LIBs. This is because, like solar, LIB industry manufacturing costs are driven primarily by materials.