4 ms·

Rail storage uses a long incline track and an electric engine with large mass to store excess electrical energy as potential energy. https://www.vox.com/2016/4

• TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
  A long inclined track, and magnitudes of order more energy inputs in the form of steel and super heavy duty tracks and earth moving and maintenance than could ever be recovered. Soneone here recently ran the numbers assuming you could move rocks unencumbered up and down earths gravity well and the mass required to generate enough electricity to power the world even for a brief movement. The numbers were sobering.
  • thatcat 9y ago
    Yea rail storage is pretty niche and definitely can't power the whole world. The only advantage is that there is a very low switching time on the load from charge to discharge compared to pumped hydro. This could be extra useful for load balancing a distributed grid.
    • TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
      I suspect flywheels would do the job without the added complexity of a train.