January 23, 2026: Costs of long duration energy storage (LDES) projects are on track for meaningful reductions within the next four years, according to a new study.
Advances in technologies and increased manufacturing scale will drive costs down, said the study* — ‘Cost Benchmarking for Long Duration Energy Storage Solutions’ — by the LDES Council and US-based non-profit Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).
LDES, launched in 2021 by energy firms and developers such as Ambri, Highview Power, ESS and CellCube, said the study draws on real world data provided by its technology developers and reviewed by EPRI.
Key findings suggest cost estimates are becoming more consistent in several categories, reflecting a growing maturity across the LDES landscape.
At longer durations, some LDES technologies can scale more efficiently than short duration storage, depending on system design and application, the study said.
The study is intended to support utilities, system operators, energy modellers and others planning future power systems with increasingly high shares of renewables in the energy generating mix.
Data from a range of intraday electrochemical technologies, that provide energy storage over periods of 24-100 hours, are among those included in the study. The types of technologies in this category include sodium-sulfur, vanadium redox flow batteries and iron-salt flow batteries.
For the intraday electrochemical, intraday compressed gas, and thermal energy storage categories, data was aggregated for contract years 2025 and 2030.
However, the names of individual technology developers were not disclosed.
Justin Raade, EPRI program manager for bulk energy storage said: “Policy and investment choices depend on how costs are represented.
“By aligning cost benchmarks for LDES assets, we help system planning and policy to be grounded in consistent, actionable data.”
The study underlines analysis published by the LDES Council last month, which predicted that LDES systems are moving rapidly toward bankability, with clearer pathways for investment than ever before.
*The study is available in full online.
