Exploring the Future Energy Value of Long-Duration Energy Storage

Anna H. Schleifer (), Stuart M. Cohen, Wesley Cole, Paul Denholm and Nate Blair
Additional contact information
Anna H. Schleifer: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Stuart M. Cohen: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Wesley Cole: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Paul Denholm: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Nate Blair: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 7, 1-21

Abstract: Long-duration energy storage is commonly viewed as a key technology for providing flexibility to the grid and broader energy systems over a multidecadal time frame. However, prior work has typically used present-day grid infrastructures to characterize the relationship between the duration and arbitrage value of storage in electricity markets. This study leverages established National Renewable Energy Laboratory grid planning and operations tools, analysis, and data to execute a price-taker model of an energy storage system for several 8760 h price series representative of current and future contiguous United States grid infrastructures with varying shares of variable renewable energy (VRE). We find that the total value of energy storage typically increases with VRE shares, but any increase in the relative value of longer storage durations over time depends on the region and grid mix. Some regions see incremental value increasing notably, up to 20–40 h in 2050, while others do not. The negative effect of lower roundtrip efficiency on value is also found to be scenario-dependent, with the energy value in higher VRE scenarios being less sensitive to roundtrip efficiency and more supportive of longer storage durations. Long-duration storage value and deployment potential are a function of evolving electricity sector infrastructure, markets, and policy, making it critical to consistently revisit potential long-duration storage contributions to the grid.

Keywords: electricity sector; energy storage; energy arbitrage; renewable energy; price-taker modeling; electric grid; long-duration energy storage; roundtrip efficiency; planning and operation tools (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/7/1751/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/7/1751/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:7:p:1751-:d:1625051

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().