Li-ion battery pack prices hit US$108/kWh in 2025, with stationary storage at just US$70/kWh. Here’s what that means for clean energy, AI, and your projects.
Global lithium-ion battery pack prices just hit a record low of US$108/kWh—an 8% drop in a year when key battery metals actually got more expensive.
Most companies underestimate how big a deal that is.
This matters because cheaper batteries don’t just make electric vehicles more attractive. They change the economics of the entire clean energy system: grid-scale storage, behind-the-meter batteries, microgrids, and even how AI-powered energy management software delivers value. In other words, this is a core moment for green technology, not just another market update.
In this article, I’ll break down what BloombergNEF’s latest battery price survey really means, why stationary energy storage is suddenly the lowest-cost segment, and how smart businesses can use this trend to cut emissions and operating costs.
1. The headline: Battery pack prices down 8% to US$108/kWh
The core finding is straightforward: global average lithium-ion battery pack prices fell 8% year-on-year to US$108/kWh in 2025.
Under the hood, a few details matter:
- Average cell prices fell 5% to US$74/kWh.
- Overall, pack prices are now 93% lower than in 2010 (around US$1,474/kWh in 2025 dollars).
- The fall was smaller than last year’s 20% drop, but it happened despite higher lithium, cobalt, and nickel prices.
Here’s the thing about this price trajectory: once you cross certain thresholds, whole business models flip from “future potential” to “financeable today.”
For example:
- At around US$100/kWh, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) hit cost parity with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in several markets.
- Grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) start to compete directly with peaker plants for balancing the grid.
BloombergNEF’s survey confirms what many in the industry have felt this year: we’re not dealing with a niche climate technology anymore. Energy storage has become core infrastructure.
2. Why prices are dropping even as metals get pricier
The paradox is fascinating: battery metals got more expensive, but packs got cheaper. That only happens when industrial dynamics overpower commodity moves.
There are three main drivers:
2.1 Overcapacity and brutal competition in cell manufacturing
Cell manufacturing, especially in China, is running hot. BloombergNEF points to massive overcapacity, particularly for cells aimed at stationary storage. That overcapacity does two things:
- Forces manufacturers to run plants hard to cover fixed costs
- Pushes them to cut margins and underbid to win contracts
The result is exactly what you’d expect in a commodity market with too much supply: prices keep sliding.
From a green technology perspective, this is uncomfortable for manufacturers but great for:
- Utilities and IPPs planning large-scale BESS
- Solar and wind developers adding storage to stabilize revenues
- Corporates rolling out behind-the-meter batteries to manage demand charges
2.2 The shift to LFP and away from cobalt-heavy chemistries
For stationary storage, the most important trend is the near-total switch to lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistries.
LFP has three big advantages for green tech deployments:
- No cobalt: avoids the most volatile and ethically problematic metal.
- Lower cost: slightly lower energy density, but cheaper and good enough for stationary assets.
- Thermal stability: aligns better with safety requirements for grid-scale and commercial sites.
BloombergNEF highlights that the lowest LFP cell price found was US$36/kWh, with pack prices as low as US$50/kWh. Those are no longer outliers; they’re signs of a mature, cost-optimized supply chain.
2.3 Smarter contracting and supply-chain diversification
Since the pandemic-era spike in 2021–2022, manufacturers and large buyers have changed how they contract:
- Long-term offtake deals indexed to raw materials
- Diversified sourcing across regions and suppliers
- Hedging strategies built into supply agreements
So even though cobalt, lithium, and nickel prices ticked up, those increases hit manufacturer margins more than end-customer pricing—at least for now.
For buyers, this is a window of opportunity: you’re getting the benefit of lower pack prices while suppliers absorb more volatility.
3. Stationary storage just became the lowest-cost segment
Here’s the most strategically important datapoint: stationary energy storage pack prices fell 45% year-on-year to just US$70/kWh.
That makes stationary storage the lowest-priced segment for the first time.
3.1 Why stationary storage is suddenly so cheap
Several forces intersect here:
- Dedicated capacity: BloombergNEF estimates 557 GWh/year of stationary-focused cell production capacity in China alone—about double current global demand.
- Standardization: More developers are converging on standardized 1–4 hour BESS configurations, which simplifies engineering and drives economies of scale.
- Chemistry fit: LFP is almost tailor-made for 1–4 hour stationary use cases, and that chemistry is now dominant.
Once you have overbuilt capacity pointed at a standardized product with a mature chemistry, the cost curve moves quickly.
3.2 What this means for projects on the ground
For anyone working on clean energy projects, US$70/kWh pack pricing is a line in the sand.
It pushes a range of use cases into the money:
- Solar + storage: Firming solar output and shifting it into evening peaks becomes commercially attractive in more markets.
- Wind smoothing and congestion management: Storage can help avoid curtailment and grid bottlenecks at lower capex.
- Commercial & industrial (C&I) demand management: Batteries become a viable tool for shaving peak demand charges and arbitraging tariffs.
- Resilience and microgrids: Backup power for data centers, hospitals, and critical infrastructure stops being a luxury spend.
Pack prices aren’t the whole story—full turnkey system pricing still includes inverters, enclosures, EMS, civil works, and a lot of engineering—but the pack is usually the single biggest line item. When that falls 45% in a year, project spreadsheets start lighting up green.
BloombergNEF’s previous system-level survey put turnkey BESS costs in 2024 at:
- US$101/kWh in China
- US$236/kWh in the US
- US$275/kWh in Europe
With pack prices now lower again, the next system cost update will likely confirm what many already sense: it’s time to stop treating batteries as pilots and start treating them as core capex.
4. Regional realities: China, Europe, and North America
Battery prices aren’t falling evenly everywhere. Strategy needs to reflect that.
4.1 China: price leader, capacity giant
China saw the largest decline in average pack prices at 13%. It also:
- Hosts the bulk of cell manufacturing capacity
- Exports cells, packs, and integrated systems at aggressive prices
- Has domestic demand growth in EVs and stationary storage
For global green technology players, Chinese overcapacity is both a risk and an opportunity:
- Risk: Long-term sustainability of ultra-low pricing is uncertain if margins stay thin.
- Opportunity: Near-term access to very low pack and system prices can accelerate deployment and build track records.
4.2 Europe: benefiting from redirected Chinese exports
Chinese exports to the US are increasingly constrained by tariffs and policy. That volume needs a home, and Europe is getting the attention.
BloombergNEF notes that this shift has intensified price competition in Europe, which directly benefits:
- Developers in markets like Germany, Spain, Italy, and Poland
- Corporate buyers seeking on-site storage for RE100 and net-zero strategies
Combine that with regulatory shifts like 15-minute settlement and capacity market reforms, and Europe is becoming one of the most attractive regions for battery storage ROI.
4.3 North America: slower price falls, but strong fundamentals
North American battery pack prices fell only 4% year-on-year, less than China or Europe.
That’s not surprising given:
- Trade restrictions on Chinese content
- Inflation Reduction Act incentives tied to local content and manufacturing
- Higher labor and project development costs
Even with higher capex, the fundamentals are strong:
- Massive growth in solar and wind that needs firming
- Aging grid infrastructure and rising reliability concerns
- Strong policy tailwinds for clean energy and domestic manufacturing
The real story in the US and Canada is less about hitting the absolute lowest capex number and more about capturing value with smarter operations—and that’s where AI and software start to matter a lot.
5. How AI and smart software turn cheap batteries into real value
Falling hardware prices are only half the opportunity. The other half is how intelligently you operate those batteries.
Here’s the reality: a poorly operated US$70/kWh system can underperform a well-optimized US$120/kWh system.
5.1 Where AI fits into green technology and storage
AI-powered energy management systems are now central to extracting value from batteries. They can:
- Predict price and demand patterns and schedule charging/discharging
- Stack multiple revenue streams (arbitrage, capacity, ancillary services)
- Manage degradation by optimizing cycling patterns
- Coordinate fleets of distributed batteries as virtual power plants (VPPs)
As capex falls, software and analytics become the main differentiator between average and top-quartile project returns.
5.2 Practical steps for businesses considering storage
If you’re a utility, IPP, or large energy user, here’s what I’d prioritize right now:
-
Re-run your project pipeline with updated capex
Use US$70/kWh–US$110/kWh as your battery pack reference range depending on region and scale, and update IRRs for:- Solar + storage retrofits
- New-build hybrid projects
- C&I demand management and peak shaving
-
Insist on transparent system-level costs
Pack price is only part of the story. Push suppliers for clear breakdowns of:- Cells and packs
- Power conversion and controls
- Balance-of-plant and EPC
-
Choose partners with strong software, not just cheap hardware
Ask hard questions about:- Forecasting and optimization algorithms
- Proven performance in your specific market design
- Integration with existing SCADA and asset management systems
-
Plan for volatility in metals and margins
BloombergNEF expects only a 3% further decline in average pack prices in 2026, with ongoing raw material pressure. That’s a hint: the steepest part of the cost curve may be behind us for this cycle.Lock in value with:
- Structured supply contracts
- Indexed pricing where it makes sense
- Diversified supplier portfolios
6. What this means for the future of green technology
Battery prices falling to US$108/kWh for packs and US$70/kWh for stationary storage is more than a milestone. It’s a structural shift.
For the broader Green Technology story, this is key:
- Clean energy no longer depends on perfect weather; storage makes renewables dispatchable.
- Smart software and AI can orchestrate thousands of distributed assets into reliable, flexible capacity.
- Corporates and cities can treat resilience, decarbonization, and cost savings as the same project, not competing priorities.
If you’re responsible for energy strategy, grid planning, or sustainability targets, the question is no longer “when will batteries be affordable?” They’re there.
The better question is: how quickly can you redesign your energy systems to take advantage of them, and which partners will help you operate them intelligently?
The businesses that answer that in the next 12–24 months won’t just hit their climate goals—they’ll reset their cost base and resilience for the next decade.