Will lithium-ion batteries become the cheapest power storage option in the future?

A new study released on the 9th by Imperial College London predicts that in the next few decades, in most application scenarios, lithium-ion batteries are expected to become the cheapest choice for power storage.

The research team at Imperial College established a model to analyze the cost trend of 9 power storage technologies in 12 application scenarios from 2015 to 2050. Including large batteries, pumped storage power stations, etc. Related results have been published in the American 'Joule' magazine.

Research shows that the current cheapest way to store electricity is pumped-storage power stations, which use excess electricity when the power load is low to pump water to the upper reservoir, and then pass it when needed. Discharge water to the lower reservoir for power generation.

But the team predicts that over time, the cost of pumped-storage power stations will not fall further, while the cost of lithium-ion batteries will continue to fall. In most application scenarios, the latter is the cheapest power storage option. By 2050, the cost advantage of lithium-ion batteries will be more obvious.

The main author of the report and a scholar at Imperial College Oliver Schmidt said that in the future, lithium-ion batteries will occupy most power system applications due to their low cost and excellent performance. Advantage.