Techno-Economic Assessment of Grid-Scale Energy Storage Technologies Under Evolving Market and Decarbonization Scenarios: Liquid Air and Lithium-ion Battery Systems

Abstract

As global energy systems transition toward low-carbon futures, long-duration energy storage technologies are expected to play a critical role in ensuring grid reliability and flexibility. Liquid air energy storage has emerged as a promising long-duration energy storage solution due to its scalability, ability to be sited flexibly, and environmental sustainability. This thesis investigates the technical modeling and economic feasibility of liquid air energy storage systems under both current and projected future electricity market conditions using a combination of process modeling, mathematical optimization, and techno-economic analysis.

The study begins with an exploratory investigation into the modeling of process components in liquid air energy storage systems, emphasizing multistream heat exchangers and the emergence of bifurcation phenomena in thermodynamic models. This is followed by an economic optimization of standalone LAES systems across various electricity markets in the United States and Europe. A mixed-integer linear programming framework is developed to simultaneously optimize system design and hourly operation with the objective of maximizing net present value, providing new insights to inform LAES deployment strategies.

Building on these foundations, a forward-looking economic analysis is conducted for 18 electricity regions in the United States under eight distinct decarbonization scenarios. This analysis is based on future electricity price projections from the Cambium 2023 dataset developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The results identify Texas and Florida as especially favorable markets for liquid air energy storage under a range of decarbonization pathways. Sensitivity analyses reveal that economic incentives such as capital expenditure subsidies have a greater impact on profitability than technical improvements such as increased round-trip efficiency.

Finally, the thesis presents a comparative economic assessment of liquid air energy storage systems and lithium-ion battery systems across key metrics, including levelized cost of storage, system lifetime, siting constraints, and cost-effectiveness over multi-hour to multi-day durations. The findings show that liquid air energy storage systems can offer lower cost and greater flexibility than lithium-ion batteries for long-duration applications.

This work establishes a generalizable framework for assessing the economic feasibility of emerging energy storage technologies and offers practical insights for decision-makers evaluating the role of liquid air energy storage in future electricity systems.