LDES Council A path towards full grid decarbonization with 24/7 clean Power Purchase Agreements Published in May 2022 by the LDES Council. Copies of this document are available upon request or can be downloaded from our website: www.ldescouncil.com. This report was authored by the LDES Council in collaboration with McKinsey & Company as knowledge partner. This work is independent, reflects the views of the LDES Council, and has not been commissioned by any business, government, or other institution. The authors of the report confirm that: 1. There are no recommendations and/or any measures and/or trajectories within the report that could be interpreted as standards or as any other form of (suggested) coordination between the participants of the study referred to within the report that would infringe EU competition law; and 2. It is not their intention that any such form of coordination will be adopted. Whilst the contents of the report and its abstract implications for the industry generally can be discussed once they have been prepared, individual strategies remain proprietary, confidential and the responsibility of each participant. Participants are reminded that, as part of the invariable practice of the LDES Council and the EU competition law obligations to which membership activities are subject, such strategic and confidential information must not be shared or coordinated — including as part of this report. 2 Contents Acronyms ............................................................................................................... i Preface .................................................................................................................... ii Executive summary ............................................................................................... iv I. The need for 24/7 clean PPAs ........................................................................... 1 II. Barriers to 24/7 clean PPAs .............................................................................. 7 III. Proposed quality assessment framework and implementation .................. 11 Laying the foundation for a quality assessment of 24/7 clean PPAs ........... 12 Technology deployment, costs, and decarbonization impact of quality ratings ................................................................................................ 16 Technical considerations for implementation ................................................ 21 IV. Ensuring impact is captured ............................................................................ 29 V. The path forward ................................................................................................ 37 Appendix A. Modelling methodology .................................................................. 40 Appendix B. Survey results ................................................................................... 43 A path towards full grid decarbonization with 24/7 clean Power Purchase Agreements | LDES Council, McKinsey & Company 3 Acronyms i API Application programming interfaces Capex Capital expenditure CO2 Carbon dioxide EAC Energy attribute certificate EU ETS European Union Emissions Trading System ESG Environmental, social, and governance gCO2eq Grams of carbon dioxide equivalent GHG Greenhouse gas GW Gigawatt IEA International Energy Agency IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change kWh Kilowatt-hour LCOE Levelized cost of electricity Li-ion Lithium-ion LDES Long duration energy storage MW Megawatt MWh Megawatt-hour Opex Operational expenditure PPA Power purchase agreement PV Photovoltaics RES Renewable energy sources SBTi Science-based targets initiative TSO Transmission system operator TW Terawatt TWh Terawatt-hour T&D Transmission and distribution UK United Kingdom A path towards full grid decarbonization with 24/7 clean Power Purchase Agreements | LDES Council, McKinsey & Company Preface The LDES Council is a global, executiveled organization that strives to accelerate decarbonization of the energy system at lowest cost to society by driving innovation and deployment of long duration energy storage (LDES). Launched at COP26, the LDES Council provides fact-based guidance to governments and industry, drawing from the experience of its members, which include leading technology providers, industry and