In Texas, natural gas, nuclear and coal provide the base load dispatchable power generation while natural gas provides the peaking. Wind and solar cannot provide either.
I agree, Ed. As more battery storage is added and electricity customers realize the high cost of even battery storage, there will be resistance. I've seen conflicting reports on the profitability of battery storage, so its future is uncertain. Thanks for the comment. Ed
Ed, Ten MW (40 MWh) of battery storage is "a small yellow spot in the snow" in an 83,000 MW market. Rendering renewables plus batteries dispatchable would require battery storage capacity equal to ~25% of annual renewable generation. Still, at $500/kWh, even 40MWh ain't cheap.
love your analogy, small yellow spot in the snow, perfect! 'cept we are paying a lot for that yellow spot, no it ain't cheap, nor will it save us. More batteries more strain on the grid when we need it least, which is when wind and solar aren't working and we need backup... so gas is the only way to go for now. Then nuclear. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out.
The part that is still so fascinating to me is just how little difference the addition of tons of batteries actually makes. We’re talking a difference of 30 minutes to an hour with generous estimates. It’s really maybe more the difference of about 10 minutes.
In much smaller scale applications like control systems critical power, battery backup makes a lot of sense. But when scaled up it slowly loses its application and becomes an increasing fire hazard. Costs also increases quickly.
If the government subsidies didn’t exist these monstrosities would have disappeared years ago. Thanks for the good reporting on Texas. I think your prediction will come true pretty quickly.
Yes, the cost of grid-level battery storage relative to the benefit for electricity consumers makes no sense at all. If the wind and solar generators want to pay for it, they should. Otherwise, it should go away. Thanks for the comment, B Apple.
I agree, Ed. As more battery storage is added and electricity customers realize the high cost of even battery storage, there will be resistance. I've seen conflicting reports on the profitability of battery storage, so its future is uncertain. Thanks for the comment. Ed
Ed, Ten MW (40 MWh) of battery storage is "a small yellow spot in the snow" in an 83,000 MW market. Rendering renewables plus batteries dispatchable would require battery storage capacity equal to ~25% of annual renewable generation. Still, at $500/kWh, even 40MWh ain't cheap.
https://www.therightinsight.org/Current-Storage-Deficit
love your analogy, small yellow spot in the snow, perfect! 'cept we are paying a lot for that yellow spot, no it ain't cheap, nor will it save us. More batteries more strain on the grid when we need it least, which is when wind and solar aren't working and we need backup... so gas is the only way to go for now. Then nuclear. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out.
MORE! Said Oliver Twist! So Texas is building more gas generation.
Please, sir, let’s have more of them gas plants—keep the machines humming and the chill off me bones!
The part that is still so fascinating to me is just how little difference the addition of tons of batteries actually makes. We’re talking a difference of 30 minutes to an hour with generous estimates. It’s really maybe more the difference of about 10 minutes.
In much smaller scale applications like control systems critical power, battery backup makes a lot of sense. But when scaled up it slowly loses its application and becomes an increasing fire hazard. Costs also increases quickly.
If the government subsidies didn’t exist these monstrosities would have disappeared years ago. Thanks for the good reporting on Texas. I think your prediction will come true pretty quickly.
Yes, the cost of grid-level battery storage relative to the benefit for electricity consumers makes no sense at all. If the wind and solar generators want to pay for it, they should. Otherwise, it should go away. Thanks for the comment, B Apple.