Economic Comparison Between a Battery and
The cost associated with the battery or SC energy storage system primarily depends on two aspects: (i) lifetime of the ESS, and (ii) minimum capacity required of the ESS. The service life
A typical supercapacitor stores about 15 seconds of energy, for a capex cost of $10,000/kWh, but just $40/kW of power. This is down to very high power density (10-25 kW/kg, 10-25x higher than a lithium ion battery), albeit quite low energy density (2-10 Wh/kg, which is 95-99% below a lithium ion battery).
The capex costs of supercapacitors are contrasted with the costs of lithium ion batteries and the costs of flywheels in the chart below. A typical supercapacitor stores about 15 seconds of energy, for a capex cost of $10,000/kWh, but just $40/kW of power.
Supercapacitors can also regulate voltage, and buffer against voltage drops very rapidly, with response times in the nanosecond range, which makes them particularly useful for buffering the kinds of transients of AI data-centers. What are the costs of supercapacitors?
This is down to very high power density (10-25 kW/kg, 10-25x higher than a lithium ion battery), albeit quite low energy density (2-10 Wh/kg, which is 95-99% below a lithium ion battery). Hence a supercapacitor system earns a 10% IRR if it charges a 6c/kWh spread and charges/discharges around 30,000 times per year.
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