• Countries with high renewable penetration (>20%) need long-duration storage to control inertia and intermittency

• Net-zero targets, declining costs of solar and wind are intensifying demand pull – new LDES tech breakthroughs making storage beyond 10 hours a reality

• Business models focus around 10-12 hour storage, innovation

• Thermal storage: New materials (graphite, different alloys) allowing heat storage beyond 1000°C, enough to power most industrial production (and well beyond temperatures to generate electricity) 
  
  
• Mechanical storage: Using closed loop systems, gravity, to improve roundtrip efficiency and offer new geography-agnostic solutions
  
  
• Flow batteries: Improving electrolyte and power stack performance, reducing power loss

• Over 10 LDES developers are targeting 2023-2024 for commercial operation, with commercialization of many technologies likely in 2-5 years