The energy storage market is growing exponentially, however, as a percentage of total grid capacity it still only makes up a tiny fraction of the whole. Even among energy storage applications, pumped hydropower still retains a 95% market share. The major factor inhibiting further uptake — cost.
One factor emerging as a clear driver of cost reductions is economy of scale. As demand for energy storageincreases, mass production becomes feasible. Take Tesla’s Gigafactories: with a planned annual battery production capacity of 35 GWh — close to the current level of battery production of the entire world.
Tesla’s ambitious factory plans may be getting the most press, but they’re far from the only game in town. Accumotive (Germany), Energy Absolute (Thailand) and a consortium including Boston Energy and Innovation (BEI), Charge CCCV, C&D Assembly, Primet Precision Materials and Magnis Resources (USA) all have large-scale manufacturing plants in the pipeline.
These new large factories will allow energy storage to benefit from spreading the hefty upfront costs over the number of units produced. Tesla also expects that implementing innovative manufacturing processes will further drive cost reduction.
Lithium-ion based technologies account for close to 95% of new deployments of energy storage. They will undoubtedly see the most reductions in cost in the near future, however, production growth will still have to contend with the scarce quantities and precarious supply chains of the required raw materials.
The supply chain concerns for lithium-ion batteries is a main driver of research into new battery technologies — cost reduction is another. While redox flow batteries are not a new technology, this area of energy storage is seeing continuous development of new battery chemistries.
Some of these chemistries are already being tested and manufactured commercially, while others are only just being proven in university laboratories. In almost every case, the focus is on making effective batteries with common, cost-effective and safe raw materials.
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