How much should lithium-ion energy storage cost so that we can only use renewable energy? [MYTH]

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have calculated to what levels energy needs to be stored in order to profitably replace traditional power plants with renewable energy sources. It turns out that with a full transition to renewable energy, prices should fluctuate from $ 5 to $ 20 per kWh.

Today's batteries cost over $ 100 per kilowatt hour.

There are already rumors that the manufacturers have managed to reduce the level of 100-120 dollars per kilowatt-hour of lithium-ion cells, which is more than 6 dollars (from 23 zloty) per cell to a medium-sized car battery. China's CATL lithium iron phosphate cells are expected to cost less than $ 60 per kWh.

However, according to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this is still too much. If we wanted to use only renewable energy and store excess energy in lithium-ion batteries, it would be necessary to abandon up to 10-20 $ / kWh when replacing a nuclear power plant. For gas-fired power plants - calculations based on the United States, which is the world's 4th largest producer of natural gas - the cost of a lithium-ion battery should be even lower - only $5 per kWh.

But here's the curiosity: the above amounts assume general replacing the described power plants with renewable energy sources, that is, energy storage facilities sufficient to meet the needs for longer periods of silence and poor sunlight. If renewables have been found to produce "only" 95 percent of the energy, energy storage makes economic sense already at $ 150 / kWh!

We have almost certainly reached the level of $150 per kilowatt-hour. The problem is that there aren't enough lithium-ion battery factories in the world to meet the needs of car manufacturers, let alone giant energy stores. What other options? Vanadium flow batteries are relatively easy to build, but expensive ($100/kWh). Storage tanks or compressed air units are cheap ($20/kWh) but require large areas and appropriate geographic conditions. The rest of the cheap technologies are only at the stage of research and development - we expect a breakthrough no sooner than in 5 years.

Worth reading: How inexpensive does energy storage need to be for utilities to switch to 100 percent renewable energy?

Opening photo: Tesla energy storage next to Tesla solar farm.