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There is lots criticism of this project , including its rising cost, currently $12 billion. My point is there needs to be large amounts of storage , KEPT IN RE

There is lots criticism of this project , including its rising cost, currently $12 billion. My point is there needs to be large amounts of storage , KEPT IN RESERVE for unexpected weather events that last several days. Then there needs to be the (to be constructed) network capacity to get it to where energy is needed. ( At present , most just assume a infinite copper grid) Then there needs to be excess generation capacity to recharge the storage after its use. (Hopefully no back to back extreme renewable droughts) The present electricity supply system has evolved over several decades. Completely re engineering the electricity grid over a relatively short time , like a decade, is bound to have lots expensive problems leading to high electricity prices and un reliable grid supply. Every EV as a battery , skeptical about that, sounds good, I can see implementation problems.

rswail 2y ago
Yes, it's blown out on cost, primarily because of tunnelling issues. Your point about large amounts of storage and the network capacity etc is correct, however, no one "just assume[s] a infinite copper grid". AEMOs ISP includes transmission network upgrades to both connect Renewable Energy Zones (eg offshore and rural REZ in Victoria). The problems of "baseload" disappearing both because of the age of the generators and the variability of RE because "always on" generation doesn't work well with variable generation has to be solved, but storage is growing now at the same sort of rate as generation, especially co-located solar/storage. It is exceedingly rare for unexpected weather events lasting several days across the entire NEM. In fact, it has never occurred.