Nickel-rich lithium-ion batteries: Economics

The price gap that pushed NMC out of grid storage

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

NMC packs cost about 58% more per kWh than LFP in 2025 (calculated from BloombergNEF averages), so NMC is now a poor choice for grid storage.

Capex versus opex

Unfavourable

BloombergNEF's 2025 survey put average NMC packs at USD 128/kWh against USD 81/kWh for LFP, so NMC costs about 58% more (calculated). The IEA puts LFP packs more than 40% cheaper than NMC on average in 2025, noting that part of the gap reflects the lower energy density acceptable in stationary storage. Shorter cycle life also means more augmentation or replacement over a project's life. No published LTO price was found; with roughly a third of NMC's energy per kilogram (calculated from about 96 against 265 Wh/kg), it costs considerably more per kWh and is bought for power and life, not cheap energy.¹²¹⁵

NMC average pack price (2025) USD 128/kWh¹ LFP average pack price (2025) USD 81/kWh¹ LFP pack discount to NMC (IEA, 2025) more than 40%²

Levelised cost of storage

Unfavourable

No current NMC-specific LCOS was found; benchmarks now assume LFP. Lazard's 2026 US figure for a 100 MW, 4-hour lithium-ion plant is USD 210 to 292/MWh unsubsidised, and USD 215 to 414 for a 2-hour plant. With higher capex and fewer cycles, NMC would sit above these ranges, which is why developers have switched. LTO's very long cycle life can offset its high capex only where it cycles many times a day.¹²

Lazard US 100 MW, 4 h lithium-ion LCOS (2026) USD 210-292/MWh¹² Lazard US 100 MW, 2 h LCOS (2026) USD 215-414/MWh¹²

Revenue stack and market participation

Mixed

NMC still appears in older grid plants and some home batteries, where it earns arbitrage and backup value. LTO's ability to take very high charge and discharge rates for many cycles (Toshiba markets it for grid frequency regulation, rail, ships, buses and UPS) fits fast frequency response, rail braking recovery and bus fast-charging, where revenue comes from power rather than stored energy. In both cases, as frequency markets fill with cheap LFP, the premium for NMC or LTO is hard to justify.²¹⁶

Sources

Lithium-Ion Battery Pack Prices Fall to $108 per Kilowatt-Hour, Despite Rising Metal Prices BloombergNEF, 2025
Global EV Outlook 2026: Electric vehicle batteries International Energy Agency, 2026
Lazard's 2026 Levelized Cost of Energy+ (LCOS version 11.0) Lazard, 2026
SCiB Rechargeable Battery catalogue (company data) Toshiba, 2019
SCiB Battery Business (company claims) Toshiba Asia, 2025