Climate09 October, 20262 min read
Wood Mackenzie Finds Four-Hour Batteries Cheaper Than Open-Cycle Gas Turbines In 43 Markets
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Four-hour battery storage cheaper than open-cycle gas turbines in 43 global markets per Wood Mackenzie. LCOE for four-hour storage falls below gas turbines amid battery cost declines and fuel volatility.
5 outlets told this the same way.
Batteries undercut gas
Wood Mackenzie’s October 9, 2026 report says four-hour-duration batteries are cheaper than open-cycle gas turbines in all 43 markets it analyzed, as data center capacity expands and electricity demand rises. Wood Mackenzie’s senior analyst Ahmed Jameel Abdullah said, “This economic shift is decisive and is expanding,” describing a cost gap that the report expects to widen as battery-generated electricity costs keep falling while gas-turbine costs rise over the coming decades. The report ties the shift to data center developers buying gas turbines at scale, which pushes prices higher and stretches lead times for open-cycle turbines to between two and four years.
Closed-cycle turbines have lead times extending into the early 2030s, even as solar remains the cheapest form of new power generation in all markets analyzed by Wood Mackenzie. TechCrunch reported that on every continent and in each of the 43 markets surveyed, four-hour duration batteries were less expensive than open-cycle gas turbines.
North America trade hurdles
Wood Mackenzie’s analysis places North America in a different position, with tariffs and import restrictions shaping short-term solar costs even as batteries keep gaining ground elsewhere. Tariffs, antidumping and countervailing measures (AD/CVD), and import restrictions under Section 232 keep short-term solar energy costs in the United States and Canada elevated. 168 GW is protected thanks to “safe harbor” provisions of One Big Beautiful Bill, which preserved tax credits for projects that begin construction or are completed before the end of 2027.
Review Energy said Wood Mackenzie expects capital investment in turnkey battery-storage systems to rise by about 2% in 2026, before it falls 12% by 2031. “This economic shift is decisive and increasingly broad,” linking the trend to turbine supply difficulties and fuel volatility alongside falling storage costs.
Climate stakes via power planning
Wood Mackenzie’s report frames the cost shift as a planning change for grids, because it expects battery-generated electricity costs to keep falling while gas-turbine costs rise, strengthening the case for storage alongside renewables. In the Middle East and Africa, Wood Mackenzie expects four-hour batteries to be 33% cheaper by 2035, making storage a more competitive alternative to open-cycle gas turbines to meet peak demand in all gas markets analyzed in the region. In Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the levelized cost of solar energy will fall below $20 per MWh in 2033.
In Asia-Pacific, Review Energy reported that China’s reference LCOE is more than 55% below the Asia-Pacific regional average, which Wood Mackenzie put at $134 per MWh. The report predicts that the cost of electricity from batteries will continue to decline while electrons from gas turbines will only grow more expensive in the coming decades.