Batteries now cheap enough to make solar dispatchable, Ember report shows

A dramatic fall in battery storage costs has pushed the price of delivering solar power when it is needed to a record low, with a new report by energy think tank Ember showing utility-scale storage now costs just $65 per megawatt hour (MWh) outside China and the US. Ember says this marks a fundamental shift in how quickly solar can become reliable, round-the-clock (RTC) electricity.

The report, ‘How cheap is battery storage?’ released on December 11, draws on recent auctions in Italy, Saudi Arabia and India alongside interviews with developers across global markets. It finds that the all-in capital cost of long-duration battery storage has plunged to $125/kWh, including around $75/kWh for core equipment shipped from China and $50/kWh for installation and grid connection.

“After a 40 per cent fall in 2024 in battery equipment costs, it’s clear we’re on track for another major fall in 2025. The economics for batteries are unrecognisable, and the industry is only just getting to grips with this new paradigm,” said Kostantsa Rangelova, Global Electricity Analyst at Ember.

The steep price fall has pushed the Levelised Cost of Storage down sharply. At $65/MWh, storage is now cheap enough to shift a significant share of daytime solar into the night. If half of daytime solar generation is stored, the storage cost adds about $33/MWh to solar’s cost. With the global average solar price in 2024 at $43/MWh, Ember calculates that the total cost of dispatchable solar now stands at $76/MWh.