Energy scaled

Renewables + battery cost collapse

Battery costs collapsed 80% since 2010 ($1,200 to $108/kWh); solar & wind LCOE below fossil gas; renewable capacity additions accelerating; grid storage emerging as competitive energy arbitrage asset class.

What to watch next

Sodium-ion parity with LFP cost (2026-2027); Form Energy iron-air deployment at utility scale (2025-2026); Tesla Megablock (20 MWh modular unit) launch late 2026; long-duration (12-100hr) storage cost-competitiveness crossing threshold.

Key sub-ideas & techniques

• Solar PV cost collapse — Utility-scale solar LCOE fell to $38–78/MWh ($20–45/MWh with PTC), making solar the cheapest source of new electricity in most of the world for 10+ years running per Lazard's annual benchmark. [source]
• Lithium-ion battery price below $100/kWh — BloombergNEF's annual price survey logged $108/kWh for packs and $99/kWh for BEV packs in 2024 — the threshold at which a new EV reaches sticker parity with a comparable ICE vehicle without subsidies. [source]
• LFP chemistry takeover — Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) has displaced NMC for most stationary storage and a growing share of EVs — cheaper, no cobalt, longer cycle life, the dominant chemistry in Tesla Megapacks and BYD vehicles. [source]
• Sodium-ion mass production — CATL Naxtra (~$40/kWh cell, 2026 mass production) and BYD's 30 GWh sodium-ion line are commercializing a chemistry that needs no lithium, no cobalt, no nickel — important for grid storage and emerging-market EVs. [source]
• Long-duration storage (iron-air) — Form Energy's iron-air batteries (~$250/kWh, 100-hour duration) target the multi-day grid-storage gap that lithium-ion is too expensive to fill — first utility deployments with Xcel and Georgia Power are live. [source]
• High-energy-density sodium-ion at GWh scale — Sodium-ion cells engineered for 261 Wh/kg (high-energy), 162 Wh/kg with -50C discharge (power), and 180Ah/>20,000 cycle storage variant — closing the gap to LFP while using a non-lithium supply chain. [source]
• ESS Bridge sodium-ion BESS — ESS Inc.'s first non-iron-flow product: a Bridge BESS using Alsym Energy sodium-ion cells (1-16+ hour duration) for data-center/commercial storage; ~$1B in demand signals since the April 2026 Alsym partnership (report July 8, 2026). [source]
• Eos Energy Z3 — Non-flammable aqueous zinc-chemistry (Znyth) long-duration battery, ~91% domestic content, made in Pittsburgh
• Iron-air / metal-air multi-day storage — Iron-air 'rust batteries' target 24-100h multi-day discharge at costs lithium-ion cannot match; Ore Energy just signed continental Europe's largest iron-air offtake (up to 1 GWh, 400-MWh phase 1) with utility Budget Thuis for 2028 delivery. [source]

Current frontier

• BloombergNEF Battery Price Collapse (June 2025): Lithium-ion pack prices fell 8% to record low of $108/kWh; stationary storage at $70/kWh (45% drop YoY); BEV packs at $99/kWh (2nd year below $100/kWh threshold) [source]
• Solar & Wind LCOE Competitiveness (Lazard 2025): Utility-scale solar $38-78/MWh; onshore wind $37-86/MWh; with PTCs solar drops to $20-45/MWh; wind and solar least-expensive generation 10th consecutive year [source]
• CATL Sodium-Ion Battery (April 2026): Naxtra technology at $40/kWh cell level (20% cheaper than LFP); mass production targeting 2026; operating range -40°C to 70°C; 10,000 cycle life with 90% retention at -40°C [source]
• Form Energy Iron-Air Battery (2024-2025): Commercial-scale factory operational in West Virginia; utility deals with Xcel Energy, Southern Company, Georgia Power; target ~$250/kWh energy (reservoir); 100-hour duration; first deployments Q4 2025 [source]
• Tesla Megapack Deployment Surge (Q1 2026): Record 10.4 GWh deployed in Q1 2026 (156% YoY growth); full-year 2025 deployments 31.4 GWh (2.1x 2023); Shanghai Megafactory producing 1 GWh+ annually by Q2 2025 [source]
• JinkoSolar: 34.82% certified perovskite-silicon tandem cell (SIMIT-certified), up from 34.76%, near LONGi's 34.85% record. [source]
• HZB/Humboldt ESTI-confirmed 25.5% perovskite-CIGS tandem cell (1 cm²), new world record. [source]

Key people

• Jay Whitacre CEO, CTO, and Founder; Trustee Professor in Energy · Stratus Materials (and Carnegie Mellon University) [source]
• Tejas Patel Co-Founder and CEO · Form Energy [source]
• Varun Sridhar Executive Lead, CATL Sodium-Ion Battery Division · CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited) [source]
• Wang Xiangming General Manager, BYD Battery Division · BYD (Build Your Dreams) [source]
• Andrew Zito Executive Lead, Energy Business; Tesla Megapack Division Director · Tesla Energy (Tesla, Inc.) [source]
• Albert Haché Chief Commercial Officer; Executive Leadership · BloombergNEF (Bloomberg Finance L.P.) [source]

Startups & labs to watch

• BYD Sodium-Ion BYD (battery and EV manufacturer) · STARTUP · Internal BYD funding; $37B+ market cap; profitable EV/battery leader — 30 GWh sodium-ion factory breakground (Jan 2024); Q3 2025 delivery timeline; targeting <70% of LFP cost long-term; competing with CATL for sodium-ion market leadership [source]
• Northvolt (now Lyten acquisition) Northvolt (Swedish battery manufacturer) / Lyten (US battery company acquirer) · STARTUP · Lyten-backed restructuring; previously $5B+ valuation — Bankruptcy restructuring (Nov 2024, Mar 2025); Lyten acquisition of Northvolt assets including 16 GWh capacity; Northvolt Ett resuming production Q4 2025; European manufacturing recovery watch [source]
• Envision AESC / HiNa Battery Technology Envision AESC (joint venture); HiNa Battery Tech (Chinese sodium-ion leader) · STARTUP · Corporate backing (Envision Group, HiNa venture funding) — Sodium-ion alternatives gaining traction; HiNa targeting mass production 2025-2026; diversifying battery chemistry supply chains away from LFP dominance [source]
• Ford Energy Ford Motor Company · STARTUP · Internal Ford-funded subsidiary, leveraging existing Glendale KY plant capex — US-assembled LFP BESS at 20 GWh/year scale targeting utilities, data centers, and industrial customers; repurposes the Kentucky EV-battery plant from the dissolved BlueOval SK JV; Lisa Drake named president. [source]
• QuantumScape QuantumScape Corporation · STARTUP · Public (NYSE: QS); backed by Volkswagen — Leading solid-state lithium-metal battery developer; anodeless ceramic-separator cells promise higher energy density and faster charging. Two major OEMs (VW/PowerCo, Honda) now validate its platform toward commercialization. [source]
• JinkoSolar JinkoSolar Holding · PUBLIC_COMPANY · Public (NYSE: JKS) — One of the world's largest solar manufacturers and a perovskite-silicon tandem record contender (34.82% certified, June 2026); key player pushing tandem cells past the single-junction limit toward mass production. [source]
• Plug Power / Orica Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub Plug Power (electrolyzers); Orica (offtake) · COMPANY — 50MW GenEco PEM electrolyzer order for Orica's Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub (NSW), which reached final investment decision July 7, 2026 as Australia's largest renewable-hydrogen project (~4,700 tonnes/yr). [source]
• ComEd Scheduled Dispatch VPP Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) · COMPANY — Illinois' first virtual power plant, approved by the ICC June 30, 2026 under the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act; aggregates customer battery storage for grid dispatch starting 2027. [source]
• Alsym Energy Alsym Energy (non-lithium/sodium-ion cells) · STARTUP — Entity reconciliation: Alsym's sodium-ion cells are the dependency powering ESS's new Bridge BESS; a notable non-lithium chemistry supplier targeting data-center/commercial storage. [source]
• Eos Energy Enterprises Eos Energy Enterprises, Inc. · PUBLIC_COMPANY · Nasdaq: EOSE — US aqueous zinc-chemistry long-duration battery maker (~91% domestic content); won a Golden Dome prototype contract. [source]
• Ore Energy Ore Energy (Delft, NL) · STARTUP · Venture-backed (Delft spinout) — Iron-air 'rust battery' startup targeting 24-100h multi-day discharge; signed continental Europe's largest iron-air offtake (up to 1 GWh) with utility Budget Thuis, a notable entrant in the long-duration storage gap. [source]