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Storage Futures Study: The Challenge of Defining Long-Duration Energy Storage

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1832215· OSTI ID:1832215

This document explores the definition of "long duration" as applied to energy storage. Given the growing use of this term, a uniform definition could aid in communication and consistency among various stakeholders. There is large and growing use of the ARPA-E definition of greater than 10 hours. However, the term "long-duration energy storage" is often used as shorthand for storage with sufficient duration to provide firm capacity and support grid resource adequacy. The actual duration needed for this application varies significantly from as little as a few hours to potentially multiple days. This leads to the unsatisfying conclusion that there cannot be a simple, uniform, and static definition of long duration storage that captures its ability to provide firm capacity and also aids consistent communication.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Wind Energy Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Water Power Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Strategic Programs Office. Strategic Priorities and Impact Analysis
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1832215
Report Number(s):
NREL/TP-6A40-80583; MainId:53972; UUID:f46f0b56-8e86-47c3-9b75-e012484a6d4b; MainAdminID:63236
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English