Lazard’s annual Levelized Cost of Storage document has been refreshed, showing significant rates of return for lithium ion battery owners, especially those it has assessed in key parts of the US and Australia. Lazard is a merchant bank with a keen interest in energy markets, which first came up with the idea of Levelized costs for all things energy. The rule of thumb currently published by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory and based on last year’s Lazard report, points us towards $400 per MWh cost of battery Energy storage (BES) by utilities, falling to $210 per MWH by 2030 – but this new report smashes through that and shows that in California and Texas, where the US is most…