4 ms·

Battery was and is never supposed to take up the entire storage load of a network - nobody is designing or forecasting future networks in that way. Batteries p

Battery was and is never supposed to take up the entire storage load of a network - nobody is designing or forecasting future networks in that way. Batteries provide fast response Pumped hydro is what is being used on a lot of networks and in future network planning. Ironically old open cut mines are often perfect locations for them. This paper discusses an algorithm used to find pumped hydro sites - there is _a lot_ of capacity out there waiting to be tapped https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261918305270 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030626191... There are already numerous draft or under constructions plants that are "triple" projects with a combination of solar/wind + battery + pumped hydro

nl 6y ago
To add to this, there are numerous very large scale project already underway to use existing hydro capacity as pumped hydro storage. Eg, Bath County Pump Storage is a 3GW plant[1] although ironically it is often filled using nuclear power because the hydro station can adapt better to rapid changes in demand. In the US there is 22GW total pump hydro storage already (compared to say 98GW total nuclear power capacity). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_County_Pumped_Storage_Station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_County_Pumped_Storage_Sta...
- wp381640 6y ago
  add Snowy 2.0 in Australia - 2GW: https://www.snowyhydro.com.au/snowy-20/about/ https://www.snowyhydro.com.au/snowy-20/about/
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
manfredo 6y ago
Pumped hydroelectricity is geographically dependent - you need a valley or mountain that you can dam up to build pumped hydro. While it may be great for South Australia, the region examined in your linked paper, it's wrong to assume that this availability is uniform.
- nl 6y ago
  The available isn't uniform, but it sure is widespread! "The perception has been there are limited sites for pumped hydro around the world, but we have found hundreds of thousands." https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/anu-finds-530000-potential-pumped-hydro-sites-worldwide https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/anu-finds-530000-potent...
  - manfredo 6y ago
    This paper just ran an algorithm over a heightmap, and pinpointed potential reservoirs. This is a far cry from actually identifying feasible sites. The massive density of hydroelectric storage in the Himalayas, for instance, is far too remote to be developed at anything approaching reasonable cost. Not to mention, it still leaves swathes of places like Central north America, and much of Northern Europe without access to hydroelectric storage.
    - nl 6y ago
      The European electricity market is already very interconnected, so I doubt that would be a problem there at least.

nl 6y ago

To add to this, there are numerous very large scale project already underway to use existing hydro capacity as pumped hydro storage. Eg, Bath County Pump Storage is a 3GW plant[1] although ironically it is often filled using nuclear power because the hydro station can adapt better to rapid changes in demand. In the US there is 22GW total pump hydro storage already (compared to say 98GW total nuclear power capacity). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_County_Pumped_Storage_Station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_County_Pumped_Storage_Sta...

wp381640 6y ago
add Snowy 2.0 in Australia - 2GW: https://www.snowyhydro.com.au/snowy-20/about/ https://www.snowyhydro.com.au/snowy-20/about/
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

manfredo 6y ago

Pumped hydroelectricity is geographically dependent - you need a valley or mountain that you can dam up to build pumped hydro. While it may be great for South Australia, the region examined in your linked paper, it's wrong to assume that this availability is uniform.

nl 6y ago
The available isn't uniform, but it sure is widespread! "The perception has been there are limited sites for pumped hydro around the world, but we have found hundreds of thousands." https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/anu-finds-530000-potential-pumped-hydro-sites-worldwide https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/anu-finds-530000-potent...
- manfredo 6y ago
  This paper just ran an algorithm over a heightmap, and pinpointed potential reservoirs. This is a far cry from actually identifying feasible sites. The massive density of hydroelectric storage in the Himalayas, for instance, is far too remote to be developed at anything approaching reasonable cost. Not to mention, it still leaves swathes of places like Central north America, and much of Northern Europe without access to hydroelectric storage.
  - nl 6y ago
    The European electricity market is already very interconnected, so I doubt that would be a problem there at least.