4 ms·
In a lot of places pumped hydro is at capacity. There's only so many rivers, but you can generally put batteries anywhere.
by vasco 9y ago
In a lot of places pumped hydro is at capacity. There's only so many rivers, but you can generally put batteries anywhere.
- tripletao 9y agoAlso not directly comparable, since the batteries respond near-instantly but pumped hydro still has some lag.
- jaddood 9y agoYou don't really need a river to pump hydro up and down. As long as you have some kind of container for the water (usually a dam though not necessarily so,) you can pump any water. The cheapest to pump is probably sea water. I'm not really sure how cheap that would be compared to batteries, but it's still an option.
- pjc50 9y agoTo make it cost-effective, you need a height advantage and a "natural" container. The ideal sites are mountaintop lakes. It's a fairly rare topography.
- erikpukinskis 9y agoCould be a dry lake tho, no? Are those rare?