Batteries Now Cost Less Than Gas Turbines in 43 Markets, Report Says

Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy, has concluded that grid batteries now cost less than open-cycle gas turbines, the plants many data center developers favor, TechCrunch reported on October 9.

In all 43 markets the firm surveyed, spread across every continent, four-hour batteries came in cheaper than those turbines. Wood Mackenzie expects battery-supplied electricity to get cheaper over the next several decades, while gas turbine power gets costlier.

According to TechCrunch, AI data center developers have been snapping up every turbine model available, pushing prices higher. Utilities often run open-cycle units as peakers during demand surges, so higher turbine costs can raise their expenses too. Even those simpler turbines take two to four years to procure. Closed-cycle turbine orders face waits stretching into the early 2030s.

Solar remains the cheapest new generation in every market Wood Mackenzie surveyed. In North America, tariffs and import restrictions have put solar prices "under pressure," the firm said, but 168 gigawatts of utility-scale solar is mostly insulated by safe-harbor rules in the One Big Beautiful Bill. Under those rules, tax credits survive for projects that begin building or are completed by the end of 2027.

Ahmed Jameel Abdullah, a principal analyst at the firm, said in a press release that "this economic shift is decisive and widening."

This story was first reported by TechCrunch.