COP29: A Spotlight on Long Duration Energy Storage

November 24, 2024

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) was circled on the Long Duration Energy Storage Council’s calendar since its date and location were announced nearly a year ago. The annual convening held this year in Baku, Azerbaijan, brought together world leaders, civil society, and representatives of industry, finance, climate scientists, and activists, to address the urgent challenges posed by climate change. A key objective for the LDES Council at COP29 was to build on the commitment by nearly 200 countries to a global renewable capacity target of 11 TW by 2030 and secure a new commitment to buttress the effectiveness of the renewables tripling pledge, by rapidly deploying energy storage capacity and efficiently integrating the growing amount of renewable energy supply.

Global Energy Storage Target
The LDES Council partnered with its co-founding organisations within the Global Renewables Alliance and its partner network to advocate for a global energy storage target on COP29’s Action Agenda and worked in concert in the critical months before COP29 to build awareness and momentum for national commitments. As a result of these efforts, among that of others, the Energy Storage and Grids Pledge, which includes an energy storage target of 1.5 TW by 2030 — a 6x growth objective — was formally supported by the COP29 Presidency and numerous countries. It will now go into effect, strengthening and accelerating the clean energy transition and the decarbonisation of energy systems worldwide.

The target is emblematic of the growing prominence of long duration energy storage (LDES) in the global dialogue and in critical forums like COP29. The need for improved grid flexibility and accelerated storage deployments featured prominently across a wide range of convenings and in conversations. Yet while these developments are encouraging, much work remains to build LDES capacity —including power and thermal storage — of more than 1 TW by 2030 and up to 8 TW by 2040 to achieve net zero.  

The LDES Council will continue to ensure that the value of LDES continues to grow, and projects are built. Having LDES recognised as part of the upcoming Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), national action climate plans that are updated every five years and are next due in February 2025, is critical. The LDES Council calls for all NDCs to include clear, actionable targets for LDES. 

These recommendations are conveyed in the LDES Council’s inaugural Annual Report which launched at COP29. The report offers a current perspective and accounting on global policy, regulatory and market environment for LDES, along with updated data and industry use cases. It outlines the state of the energy sector, including key reasons to build, deploy, and scale LDES technology, and seven critical enabling strategies to accelerate the rollout of LDES. These policy prescriptions will spur more collaboration and amplify awareness on the critical value of LDES.

COP29 Key Themes and Takeaways
While the LDES Council team focused on securing national commitments to an energy storage target, several other important themes emerged from the more than 70 engagements the team participated in across COP29.

These include:

  • COP29 felt more community-focused, with pavilions more easily accessible and greater access for participants across COP29s footprint.
  • A wealth of new initiatives and partnerships were announced. Among these are a new alliance between the UK and Australia to support greater technology sharing and partnered initiatives to develop domestic and international clean energy markets, and the launch of Renewable Energy Council Asia Pacific, which was formed to serve as an innovation hub for clean energy deployments in the region, including energy storage
  • Solar PV installations reached a milestone 2 TW, signaling the exponential growth of what is now the lowest-cost form of energy available to consumers in many countries across the globe.
  • A key learning from COP29 is the pace of clean energy technology deployment continues to grow exponentially and routinely beats industry expectations.
  • Finance for climate action in developing economies remains a key issue. Differences persist on whether funding should be distributed by grants or loans, and the role that some major emerging economies should play in financing arrangements remains in dispute. 
  • Emphasis remains on ensuring adequate access to critical minerals essential to produce renewable energy and storage resources necessary for decarbonisation. Many countries continue to underline the need for ethically sourced minerals and local sourcing.

The tenor of the conversations held at COP29 underscored the urgent need for heightened collaboration and partnership to address the climate crisis. With the announcement of a global energy storage target in hand, there is evidence this clear call to action is having its intended impact.

The announcement is only the first step in what must be a coordinated, concerted effort by global leaders to ensure the value of LDES is recognised in the new NDCs and the LDES marketplace develops with pace and growth scales rapidly across key geographies.

A vibrant community of technology providers, corporates and strategic partners is building momentum and gearing up to help meet this challenge. By working closely with all of you, the LDES Council will continue to foster international collaboration to ensure LDES assumes its rightful role as a key enabler of a clean and equitable energy transition.