Battery discharge efficiency key – US study

Long-discharge capability also needed if batteries are to bring down grid power prices

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has launched its second Earthshot initiative, a call to develop long-duration energy storage (LDES) at costs 90pc below today’s levels. The aggressive targets follow the DOE’s hydrogen push in June, which similarly seeks to lower the cost of green hydrogen by 80pc. The LDES effort arrives just as Massachusetts-based Form Energy announced its iron-air battery with a potential duration time of 100 hours, and as China’s battery giant CATL revealed its sodium-ion battery technology was moving towards commercialisation. 90pc – Targeted cost reduction for batteries And the DOE has already ringfenced $1.6bn to pursue and fund breakthroughs in LDES experimen