Korea Targets 800 Wh/L Lithium-Metal and Solid-State Breakthroughs by 2029

As global competition intensifies in advanced energy storage, South Korea is accelerating efforts to commercialize next-generation battery technologies beyond conventional lithium-ion systems.

At the 2026 International Forum on Next-Generation Secondary Batteries in Seoul, the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) outlined a focused roadmap aimed at delivering high-energy-density lithium-metal and all-solid-state batteries by 2029. The initiative is backed by a KRW 130 billion investment under its “Seven Core Super-Gap Technologies” program.

Pushing Beyond Lithium-Ion Limits

With lithium-ion batteries approaching incremental efficiency gains, next-generation architectures are being developed to meet rising performance demands from electric mobility, AI-driven data centers, robotics, and advanced grid storage.

Among the key targets announced:

• 800 Wh/L-class lithium-metal batteries, designed to significantly increase volumetric energy density
• 400 Wh/kg-class all-solid-state batteries, focused on enhanced safety and reduced thermal risk

Lithium-metal batteries replace graphite anodes with metallic lithium, potentially enabling higher energy density. However, technical barriers such as dendrite formation and cycle stability must be addressed before large-scale deployment.

All-solid-state batteries, which use solid electrolytes instead of liquid ones, offer improved safety and thermal stability but require further advances in materials engineering and manufacturing scalability.

Commercialization-Focused Strategy

Unlike purely academic research initiatives, the forum emphasized structured collaboration between government-funded research institutes and major industrial players. Industry roundtables explored pathways for technology transfer, scale-up, and integration into commercial supply chains.

This reflects a broader strategic shift: battery innovation is increasingly tied not just to laboratory performance, but to manufacturability, safety standards, and long-term industrial competitiveness.

Implications for the Energy Storage Market

If successfully commercialized, these technologies could influence:

• Higher-density battery systems for electric vehicles
• Improved safety benchmarks for grid-scale BESS
• Advanced storage solutions supporting AI infrastructure growth

With commercialization targets set toward the end of the decade, Korea’s coordinated public–private push signals intensifying global competition in post-lithium-ion battery technologies.

As renewable energy deployment expands worldwide, breakthroughs in energy density and safety will be critical in shaping the next phase of the global storage market.