Will a fifth hour of battery storage cost more than 4 hours?

value for a fifth hour of storage (using historical market data) is less than most estimates for the annualized cost of adding Li-ion battery capacity, at least at current costs.25 As a result, moving beyond 4-hour Li-ion will likely require a change in both the value proposition and storage costs, discussed in the following sections.

Are 4 hour duration batteries a good investment?

Although the absolute volumes of 4 hour duration batteries remain small so far, their appearance in both the Belgian and UK capacity markets is an interesting indication of investors targeting duration extension. Cell and pack costs are projected to decline below 100 $/kWh by the mid-2020s (at least in real 2021 terms).

Should energy storage be more than 4 hours of capacity?

However, there is growing interest in the deployment of energy storage with greater than 4 hours of capacity, which has been identified as potentially playing an important role in helping integrate larger amounts of renewable energy and achieving heavily decarbonized grids.1,2,3

Does 2-hour energy storage duration still make sense for arbitrage?

“It’s a case-by-case basis for energy storage duration, but there has generally been a shift towards longer durations in recent times. But 2-hour duration BESS still makes sense for arbitrage,” said José Luis Herrero, head of origination and execution Australia at Cubico Sustainable Investments.

What if a battery has less than the duration requirement?

A battery with less than the duration requirement can receive partial capacity value, as shown in Figure 2, representing a linear derate, so a 2-hour battery would receive half the credit of a 4-hour battery, but a 6-hour battery receives no more value or revenue (for providing capacity) than a 4-hour battery in this example.

Are longer duration batteries a good investment?

Investor’s in targeting longer duration batteries are becoming more comfortable with structural returns from price shape & volatility in wholesale & balancing markets (which become more important as duration increases).