3 ms·

I think this could be superior to batteries and pumped hydro in enough situations to matter. You can build these in many more places (closer to generation/load

by bob1029 10mo ago

I think this could be superior to batteries and pumped hydro in enough situations to matter. You can build these in many more places (closer to generation/load), the capex is significantly lower, and you can probably build it a hell of a lot faster than a reservoir. This solution is also more incremental than pumped hydro and the equipment will likely last significantly longer than a lithium ion chemistry battery farm. The biggest bottleneck for getting a big project on the grid right now is interconnection. If you can avoid having to deploy new transmission lines to a new site you can often chop 5+ years off a project's time table.

cogman10 10mo ago
> You can build these in many more places Batteries take up much less space for the same power footprint. Next year, my power company is installing a 200 MWh BESS on 10 acres. No way this fits into those sorts of constraints. > capex is significantly lower Doubtful. Steel lines and motors are cheap but not that cheap. There's also a higher ongoing maintenance cost as those things need regular monitoring/greasing/cleaning. There's also the need for more security, giant heavy blocks sliding down a hill is pretty dangerous, you'll want enough security to keep someone from hopping the fence to ride a block down/up the hill. > you can probably build it a hell of a lot faster than a reservoir. Faster than a reservoir, much slower than a battery farm. > likely last significantly longer than a lithium ion chemistry battery farm. With regular maintenance, yes. But that's also true of a battery farm. With regular maintenance, the battery farm will last forever. The expensive part of the battery farm is the initial installation. After that, it's very cheap to incrementally replace modules as they start to fail (which is around 10 to 15 years).

by bob1029 10mo ago

cogman10 10mo ago

> You can build these in many more places Batteries take up much less space for the same power footprint. Next year, my power company is installing a 200 MWh BESS on 10 acres. No way this fits into those sorts of constraints. > capex is significantly lower Doubtful. Steel lines and motors are cheap but not that cheap. There's also a higher ongoing maintenance cost as those things need regular monitoring/greasing/cleaning. There's also the need for more security, giant heavy blocks sliding down a hill is pretty dangerous, you'll want enough security to keep someone from hopping the fence to ride a block down/up the hill. > you can probably build it a hell of a lot faster than a reservoir. Faster than a reservoir, much slower than a battery farm. > likely last significantly longer than a lithium ion chemistry battery farm. With regular maintenance, yes. But that's also true of a battery farm. With regular maintenance, the battery farm will last forever. The expensive part of the battery farm is the initial installation. After that, it's very cheap to incrementally replace modules as they start to fail (which is around 10 to 15 years).