Strengthening the reliability of our energy systems is paramount to national and economic security. A new report by the National Consortium for the Advancement of Long Duration Energy Storage Technologies explores the progress towards commercialization of energy storage technologies capable of delivering at least 10 hours of electricity, enabling a more reliable, flexible electric grid.
The Landscape Assessment report looks at progress made thus far in bringing different LDES technologies to market, as well as the remaining challenges to commercialization. The report offers recommendations for overcoming these barriers in support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s goal to achieve a 90% reduction in LDES technology costs by 2030.
“We’re seeing tremendous growth in the deployment of long duration energy storage,” said Will McNamara, Principal Investigator for the LDES National Consortium and grid energy storage policy analyst for Sandia. “This Landscape Assessment summarizes the Consortium’s work over the past three years to further accelerate that growth by identifying feasible pathways for commercialization over the next ten years.”
Sandia partnered with Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, National Laboratory of the Rockies, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to launch the Consortium in January 2024 as a three-year initiative intended to drive forward a wide range of commercialization pathways for diverse and emerging LDES technologies.
The national labs were joined in this effort by approximately 232 teaming partners representing the full scope of the LDES ecosystem, including technology developers, financial investors, utilities, regulators, academics and other community stakeholders.
“By bringing all these stakeholders together, we realized that technological innovation by itself is not enough to achieve the nation’s LDES commercialization goals. We identified policy, regulation, and market changes that if implemented could really drive adoption at-scale,” said McNamara
This assessment marks the end of the federally funded start-up phase of the LDES National Consortium. Starting in October, leadership of the Consortium will be handed over to its new private industry owner, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI).
“Hopefully this report can serve as a platform for EEI to continue pushing LDES forward,” said McNamara.
September 21, 2026