Lead-acid batteries: Economics

Cheap to buy, expensive to cycle: the real cost per MWh

What this tab covers Economics and financial structure: capital versus operating cost, levelised cost of storage, and how the asset earns money.

Lead-acid is cheap to buy in small sizes but expensive per unit of energy delivered, because it wears out quickly; for daily cycling LFP now wins clearly.

Capex versus opex

Unfavourable

In the 2022 US DOE assessment, a 100 MW, 4-hour lead-acid plant cost USD 447/kWh installed in 2021, against USD 385/kWh for LFP. Since then lithium-ion prices have fallen sharply: stationary lithium-ion packs averaged USD 70/kWh in 2025. Fixed operating cost is low at about USD 8 per kW a year, but the battery must be replaced every 3 to 4 years if cycled daily, which dominates lifetime cost.²³⁷

Installed cost, 100 MW 4 h (2021) USD 447/kWh³ LFP on the same basis (2021) USD 385/kWh³ Fixed O&M about USD 8/kW-year² Stationary lithium-ion pack (2025) USD 70/kWh⁷

Levelised cost of storage

Unfavourable

No recent lead-acid LCOS benchmark was found. A rough capital-only estimate, dividing the 2021 installed cost of USD 447/kWh by 675 lifetime cycles, gives about USD 660 per MWh delivered (calculated; before financing, O&M and charging cost, and generous because it assumes each cycle delivers the full rated energy). The same method for LFP at USD 385/kWh and 2,000 cycles gives about USD 190/MWh (calculated), and modern LFP cells last several times longer than that. Lead-acid only makes economic sense where cycling is rare.²³⁸

Capital-only cost per MWh delivered, lead-acid about USD 660/MWh (calculated)²³ Same method, LFP at 2,000 cycles about USD 190/MWh (calculated)³⁸

Revenue stack and market participation

Unfavourable

PNNL notes lead-acid is used mainly for resource adequacy and capacity roles, where it sits charged and discharges rarely. Its real market is backup power: uninterruptible power supplies, telecom towers, home inverters and car starter batteries. The global lead-acid market is about 400 to 450 GWh. It is poorly suited to daily arbitrage or frequent frequency regulation.¹²

Global lead-acid market size about 400-450 GWh¹

Sources

Sodium-ion batteries: Technology brief (includes lead-acid and lithium-ion comparison data) IRENA, 2025
Lead-Acid Battery methodology, 2020 Grid Energy Storage Technology Cost and Performance Assessment PNNL / US DOE, 2020
2022 Grid Energy Storage Technology Cost and Performance Assessment US DOE / PNNL, 2022
Lithium-Ion Battery Pack Prices Fall to $108 per Kilowatt-Hour, Despite Rising Metal Prices BloombergNEF, 2025
Lithium-ion Battery methodology, 2020 Grid Energy Storage Technology Cost and Performance Assessment PNNL / US DOE, 2020