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Battery capacity is going through the roof – with Carolina Cruz and Pete Tillotson
Episode 249
Wednesday, 18 February, 2026
Battery capacity is getting bigger, storage duration longer, and batteries more central to how power systems operate. In this episode of The smarter E Podcast, we look at what’s driving the surge in battery capacity and why expectations for storage are shifting so quickly. Projects that would have seemed unrealistic just a few years ago are now moving into planning and achieving financial close. Lithium-ion batteries are expanding well beyond traditional short-duration applications, as falling costs and ongoing technical progress make longer discharge durations commercially viable. At the same time, rising renewable penetration is exposing a new challenge: extended periods when the power output from wind and solar output is low, for extended periods, and at the same time (the dreaded Dunkelflaute). These events are forcing system operators, utilities, and policymakers to rethink how much storage is needed – and for how long. The episode also explores the structural side of the transition: how market design, revenue certainty, and permitting timelines could ultimately decide how fast large-scale storage rolls out, and which technologies win the arms race. If the last decade was about proving that storage can, in fact, work – the next may be about proving that it can actually play a central role in helping manage power systems. ✉️ Have comments or questions? Get in touch at podcast@thesmartere.com
