What are base year costs for utility-scale battery energy storage systems?

Base year costs for utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESSs) are based on a bottom-up cost model using the data and methodology for utility-scale BESS in (Ramasamy et al., 2023). The bottom-up BESS model accounts for major components, including the LIB pack, the inverter, and the balance of system (BOS) needed for the installation.

Why do we use units of $/kWh?

We use the units of $/kWh because that is the most common way that battery system costs have been expressed in published material to date. The $/kWh costs we report can be converted to $/kW costs simply by multiplying by the duration (e.g., a $300/kWh, 4-hour battery would have a power capacity cost of $1200/kW).

Where can I find a report on a lithium-ion system?

This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory at Figure 5. Cost projections for power (left) and energy (right) components of lithium-ion systems. Note the different units in the two plots. These power and energy costs can be used to specify the capital costs for other durations.

Do battery costs scale with energy capacity?

However, not all components of the battery system cost scale directly with the energy capacity (i.e., kWh) of the system (Feldman et al. Forthcoming). For example, the inverter costs scale according to the power capacity (i.e., kW) of the system, and some cost components such as the developer costs can scale with both power and energy.

How are battery storage cost projections developed?

The projections are developed from an analysis of recent publications that include utility-scale storage costs. The suite of publications demonstrates wide variation in projected cost reductions for battery storage over time. We use the recent publications to create low, mid, and high cost projections.

Are battery storage costs based on long-term planning models?

Battery storage costs have evolved rapidly over the past several years, necessitating an update to storage cost projections used in long-term planning models and other activities. This work documents the development of these projections, which are based on recent publications of storage costs.