Large-scale energy storage used to be part of the future of energy. But it’s here now, and it’s going to become increasingly important in the years to come. Clean energy researchers at Bloomberg NEF (BNEF) find that more than $600 billion will be invested in the sector between now and 2040. The group’s latest Long-Term Energy Storage Outlook says that the “tumbling costs of utility-scale lithium-ion battery storage systems will transform the economic case for batteries in both the vehicle and the electricity sector”, predicting that prices will fall by 52% between 2018 and 2030, adding to the steep declines already experienced this decade. This will lead to $620 billion of investment* flowing to the sector in the next 22 years, creating a cumulative capacity of 942GW, BNEF said. In the near term, the market will be dominated by South Korea and the US, but China will be the driving force from the 2020s onward. Forbes

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