View our latest public report on the prospects for long duration energy storage (LDES) technologies in Germany, commissioned by Breakthrough Energy. This study presents the key system-level effects of deploying LDES in a Net Zero power sector and explores the economic viability of various LDES technologies.
In our analysis, we compare two scenarios – a bespoke Net Zero scenario without LDES against a scenario with additional 15 GW of LDES by 2045 – to draw conclusions on the impacts of LDES on the German power system. In addition, we model the dispatch of selected LDES technologies to gain insights into their profitability.
Key findings include:
• The use of LDES reduces cumulated total system costs by around EUR 24 bn between 2025 and 2050
• The economic benefit of LDES is highly sensitive to the hydrogen price – if the conservative hydrogen price assumption in the study is raised by 10 %, the system cost savings increase to EUR 40 bn (+67 %)
• In the charging process, LDES systems absorb electricity from renewable sources, contributing to a reduction of renewables curtailment of up to 30 %
• When discharged, LDES systems replace conventional gas and hydrogen-fuelled power generation, contributing to a reduction in CO2 emissions and a 13 % decrease in hydrogen demand from the power sector
• Some LDES technologies will become investable before 2030 under optimal market conditions and viable by 2035 under indicative hurdle rates for unsubsidised projects
