Which energy-storage technology is cheapest per MWh delivered at 1 hour, 1 day and 3 weeks?
research/energy-lcos
Which storage technology is cheapest per MWh delivered, by duration? Li-ion wins to about 4 h ($116/MWh), cavern stores beyond ($109 vs Li-ion $337 at 24 h), cavern hydrogen only past ~300 h. All inputs assumed. Stylised.
What it found
Levelised cost of storage for lithium-ion, vanadium flow, pumped hydro, cavern compressed air and cavern hydrogen, from capital cost, round-trip efficiency, life, fade and charging power. With round assumed inputs Li-ion is cheapest to about 4 hours ($116/MWh at 4 h) and costs about 3× a cavern store at 24 hours ($337 vs $109); cavern hydrogen beats Li-ion above 11 hours but cavern compressed air only above 308 hours. Li-ion would need an energy cost of $43/kWh instead of $200 to win at 24 hours. The 8–10 hour winner flips with the discount rate and charging price. Stylised: every input is assumed and unsourced, caverns need geology, one fixed use pattern.
A figure from its own output
Paper, code and results
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Produced with AI assistance (Claude). Results are from the code in this repository and are simulated or stylised unless the abstract says otherwise; nothing here implies affiliation with or endorsement by any lab, researcher or company cited. MIT licensed.