Long-duration energy storage faces a harsh commercial reality
Analysts predict massive growth for storage systems that can provide many hours of uninterrupted power, but the sheer diversity of contenders in this field makes it hard for a dominant technology to emerge
There are good technical reasons for developing low-cost, long-duration energy storage systems, although market opportunities remain uncertain
RESOURCE CHALLENGE The world’s dominant battery chemistries use materials that may be too precious to waste on long-duration, gigawatt-scale storage
COMMERCIAL FORCES Scaling up alternatives to lithium-ion could be hard because of the diversity of technologies available
KEY QUOTE The long-duration bridge will be molecule, not electron based
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