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When talking about grid storage, "capacity" refers to power, not to energy, because grid assets are almost universally identified primarily by their power. Chan

When talking about grid storage, "capacity" refers to power, not to energy, because grid assets are almost universally identified primarily by their power. Changing this tradition for storage assets would be far more confusing than the correct terminology which is used in the article. There's an entire industry, with highly trained professionals, advanced curriculums, etc. etc. etc. that run the grid. It's old technology, but it is still technology. They have chosen to measure battery storage assets primarily by the power capacity, because that's the most important metric for how grids are actually run in practice. Every single time that outsiders are introduced to the grid, there's always some comments that assume that the grid people or the journalists somehow got the usage of MW and GW wrong, but it's actually how it's used in practice by the real engineers who run these things. I have had many many discussions on HN and other forums going over this, but I have not yet found the language to concisely convince people of this fact (and my comment is mostly addressed to other readers of the forum, not to you directly).

chickenbig 2y ago
I understand that such a capacity metric might be useful for generation, and somewhat useful for storage. One could see the grid operators having a good grip on the utility of storage to smooth off tv pickup and evening peaks, in full knowledge that the energy stored will run out in a few hours. However the linked article is on theprogressplaybook.com; the about page has the following blurb The Progress Playbook™ focuses on proven ideas for a better world. We cover the policies and projects that are succeeding in driving sustainable development, and that could be replicated elsewhere. This publication is intended to be a resource for policymakers, business leaders, civil society organisations, and ordinary citizens. It is clear that the publication is not aimed specifically at grid insiders, so propagating the grid's argot to a more general audience is at the very least unhelpful.

chickenbig 2y ago

I understand that such a capacity metric might be useful for generation, and somewhat useful for storage. One could see the grid operators having a good grip on the utility of storage to smooth off tv pickup and evening peaks, in full knowledge that the energy stored will run out in a few hours. However the linked article is on theprogressplaybook.com; the about page has the following blurb The Progress Playbook™ focuses on proven ideas for a better world. We cover the policies and projects that are succeeding in driving sustainable development, and that could be replicated elsewhere. This publication is intended to be a resource for policymakers, business leaders, civil society organisations, and ordinary citizens. It is clear that the publication is not aimed specifically at grid insiders, so propagating the grid's argot to a more general audience is at the very least unhelpful.