Comment by toomuchtodo
5 days ago
California should hit their battery target far earlier than their 2045 goal based on the cost decline curve and manufacturing ramp of stationary storage.
5 days ago
California should hit their battery target far earlier than their 2045 goal based on the cost decline curve and manufacturing ramp of stationary storage.
Battery storage growth has been incredible and you can see the gains almost weekly:
https://www.gridstatus.io/records/caiso?record=Maximum%20Bat...
It looks like batteries are now able to displace 100% of imports (which are mostly gas) for a period after sunset, eg here from yesterday:
https://www.gridstatus.io/live/caiso?date=2025-07-08
Even just a few weeks ago, imports would begin as soon as the sun set.
LFP stationary battery storage appears to be at ~$52/kWh in China [1] (compare to $181 in 2018 per Our World in Data). California buys a lot of stationary storage from Tesla though, which is preparing to start production at the new Sparks, NV LFP cell production facility [2]. Ford is building their own facility in Michigan [3], with 35 GWh of capacity.
[1] https://reneweconomy.com.au/watershed-moment-big-battery-sto...
[2] https://electrek.co/2025/07/01/tesla-unveils-lfp-battery-fac...
[3] https://electrek.co/2025/06/25/ford-stands-by-controversial-...
That $52/kWh price isn't for raw battery modules, it's for a fully packaged bulk storage system. Which means the raw battery module price is significantly less than $52/kWh. Wowsers.
5 replies →
From your first link:
They will also pull forward the economic tipping points for longer duration 8 hour to 10 hour systems needed to shore up ‘Round The Clock’ renewables use cases, which disproportionately stand to benefit.
I never understood the difference between standard systems that deliver the power over a 4 hour interval versus longer duration systems of 8 hours or more. The amount of energy delivered is the same, it is just delivered more slowly. What is the factor that makes delivering over 4 hours more cost effective than 8 hours?
2 replies →