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Why would pumped storage be better than the massive amounts of batteries being added right now? Batteries scale small, scale big, can be put where there's alrea

Why would pumped storage be better than the massive amounts of batteries being added right now? Batteries scale small, scale big, can be put where there's already transmission, can be put at either sides of grid congestion to lower that congestion, can regulate frequency, deliver reactive power, and be moved to new locations if the grid changes and they could be better deployed elsewhere. Literally a Swiss Army knife that can grow to whatever size is needed, and they can be thrown up in months as opposed to years. I'm not sure if hydro could compete on price any more, either. Batteries are so cheap.

typewithrhythm 1y ago
I don't really know if there is somewhere in Texas that works geographically; but the idea is if you have a good spot you essentially get an arbitrarily large store for the price of one dam. At some point you get limited by fill/discharge rate, but the cost of storage in a big pumped hydro is still pretty cheap.
- deleted 1y ago
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- sidewndr46 1y ago
  Have you ever been to Texas? 'one dam' doesn't even begin to describe the place. If you're at a body of water, look around. There's a dam. All lakes are artificial with the exception of Lake Caddo. Lake Travis already has a power plant and is rarely every full for example. No one is going to start using pumped hydro there because there is no extra water to pump.
  - Nexxius 1y ago
    To add to this TX and the SW USA are currently (been 20 years now) experiencing an extended drought. Water levels are at an all time low; many lakes are almost dry; and even the aquifers are getting a bit frumpy. As sidewndr46 said, ain't no water to pump.
  - typewithrhythm 1y ago
    Very briefly visited, (I'm an Aussie) I saw lakes and dams; but I never really had a look to see if there was a good spot to build a pipe between or to create a new lake. You don't actually need an excess of water, you need to be able to move enough between lakes though. You are not using any extra water from the system by adding pumps. That's the real determining factor right, places with cheap big pumped hydro projects ideally already have big dams that are not full, so from that point it works. But then you need a reasonable amount of elevation between reasonably close lakes (or ideal new spots).

typewithrhythm 1y ago

I don't really know if there is somewhere in Texas that works geographically; but the idea is if you have a good spot you essentially get an arbitrarily large store for the price of one dam. At some point you get limited by fill/discharge rate, but the cost of storage in a big pumped hydro is still pretty cheap.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
sidewndr46 1y ago
Have you ever been to Texas? 'one dam' doesn't even begin to describe the place. If you're at a body of water, look around. There's a dam. All lakes are artificial with the exception of Lake Caddo. Lake Travis already has a power plant and is rarely every full for example. No one is going to start using pumped hydro there because there is no extra water to pump.
- Nexxius 1y ago
  To add to this TX and the SW USA are currently (been 20 years now) experiencing an extended drought. Water levels are at an all time low; many lakes are almost dry; and even the aquifers are getting a bit frumpy. As sidewndr46 said, ain't no water to pump.
- typewithrhythm 1y ago
  Very briefly visited, (I'm an Aussie) I saw lakes and dams; but I never really had a look to see if there was a good spot to build a pipe between or to create a new lake. You don't actually need an excess of water, you need to be able to move enough between lakes though. You are not using any extra water from the system by adding pumps. That's the real determining factor right, places with cheap big pumped hydro projects ideally already have big dams that are not full, so from that point it works. But then you need a reasonable amount of elevation between reasonably close lakes (or ideal new spots).