3 ms·

For whatever reason, utilities don't have a ton of storage. Presumably it's not profitable with their business models. So in California where I live you'll run

For whatever reason, utilities don't have a ton of storage. Presumably it's not profitable with their business models. So in California where I live you'll run into issues when the sun isn't shining (or it's 4pm and sunny but solar panels are less effective because the sun is more oblique) and it's not windy. Right now they make up the gap by spinning up a bunch of natty gas generators in the afternoon. If nuclear helps take some of the load off, seems like a step in the right direction. Especially since I imagine the weather in NY is less consistent than CA

ZeroGravitas 1y ago
Battery rollout in California has changed this situation over the last few years https://blog.gridstatus.io/caiso-batteries-apr-2024/ https://blog.gridstatus.io/caiso-batteries-apr-2024/ > In the figure above, what was previously a defined peak in natural gas generation each evening has eroded into a plateau in 2024. That is because batteries are assisting with the predictable, but large, swings in solar output each day. These rapid ramps have been largely managed by natural gas units to date, but now batteries are taking on much of that responsibility. https://blog.gridstatus.io/caiso-solar-storage-spring-2025/ https://blog.gridstatus.io/caiso-solar-storage-spring-2025/
- TheOtherHobbes 1y ago
  Which is of course the answer. How much battery storage + renewables can you build for the cost of a nuclear plant? Especially given that prices are dropping. That's not even looking at solutions like pumped water, thermal storage, and others which have barely started ramping up to scale. These are all being built and used in Northern Europe. There's no magic here - just solid engineering and financing.
  - ZeroGravitas 1y ago
    > How much battery storage + renewables can you build for the cost of a nuclear plant? Which is the topic of this recent study (though they limit themselves to solar and battery): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44336988 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44336988
- Rebelgecko 1y ago
  Oh cool, I've checked cal-isos supply graphs occasionally and looked again after reading your comment. It's the first time I've noticed there being times in the night where "battery" is the main source of electricity (albeit only for an hour or two, in the early morning it falls behind gas, hydro, nuclear etc). I'm sure that capacity is only growing going forward.

ZeroGravitas 1y ago

Battery rollout in California has changed this situation over the last few years https://blog.gridstatus.io/caiso-batteries-apr-2024/ https://blog.gridstatus.io/caiso-batteries-apr-2024/ > In the figure above, what was previously a defined peak in natural gas generation each evening has eroded into a plateau in 2024. That is because batteries are assisting with the predictable, but large, swings in solar output each day. These rapid ramps have been largely managed by natural gas units to date, but now batteries are taking on much of that responsibility. https://blog.gridstatus.io/caiso-solar-storage-spring-2025/ https://blog.gridstatus.io/caiso-solar-storage-spring-2025/

TheOtherHobbes 1y ago
Which is of course the answer. How much battery storage + renewables can you build for the cost of a nuclear plant? Especially given that prices are dropping. That's not even looking at solutions like pumped water, thermal storage, and others which have barely started ramping up to scale. These are all being built and used in Northern Europe. There's no magic here - just solid engineering and financing.
- ZeroGravitas 1y ago
  > How much battery storage + renewables can you build for the cost of a nuclear plant? Which is the topic of this recent study (though they limit themselves to solar and battery): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44336988 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44336988
Rebelgecko 1y ago
Oh cool, I've checked cal-isos supply graphs occasionally and looked again after reading your comment. It's the first time I've noticed there being times in the night where "battery" is the main source of electricity (albeit only for an hour or two, in the early morning it falls behind gas, hydro, nuclear etc). I'm sure that capacity is only growing going forward.