California Grid Breezes Through Heatwave with Batteries

Post by msandford » Mon, Jul 15, 2024, 1:05 PM UTC

schmookeeg wrote: post #91

msandford wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How so? Would the Federal regulators have done a better job of making CenterPoint invest the right amount of money into tree trimming and placing lines underground? California is under Federal regulation and has significant problems where PG&E hasn't invested enough in reliability. If California just breezed through every natural disaster with no power outages and lower than Texas energy prices it would truly be a no…

Hello from Alameda, CA. 15.5c per kwh here except for M-F 5pm-9pm, where it is 50c.

Post by toomuchtodo » Mon, Jul 15, 2024, 3:50 PM UTC

applied_heat wrote: post #72

toomuchtodo wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-03-08/tesla-is-... | https://archive.today/xU9Kg https://www.ercot.com/files/docs/2024/01/12/Tesla%20BESS%20G... Gambit Energy, owned by Tesla in Texas. Megapack supports grid forming in production (Hawaii and South Australia installations as well). “Virtual Machine Mode.” It is solved, which shouldn’t be controversial considering Tesla’s power control maturity.

Thanks for the link, looks like it is new development in the last 2 years which is the blink of an eye in utility timeframes.

Post by toomuchtodo » Mon, Jul 15, 2024, 4:16 PM UTC

dzhiurgis wrote: post #95

toomuchtodo wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Batteries installed on concrete slabs are easier and cheaper, there are only so many places pumped hydro is feasible. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40919052

NZ recently scraped Lake Onslow seasonal hydro storage. My estimate it was about 100x cheaper per kWh when compared with Powerwall.

Post by jeffbee » Mon, Jul 15, 2024, 5:16 PM UTC

goodSteveramos wrote: post #104

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #97

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That's an Australian academic in 2013 making that claim, and fair play to him, the official Australian cost estimates in 2024 say: > ‘Firming costs’ is a term often used to describe the investments needed to make variable renewables a reliable source of electricity for our power system. In the GenCost report our preferred term is ‘integration costs’. > Integration costs include investments in storage, peaking generat…

What cost of storage do they use in their model in dollars per kilowatt hour?

Post by nullc » Mon, Jul 15, 2024, 6:45 PM UTC

grandinj wrote: post #106

nullc wrote: post #62

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Do the math on how much energy you can store-- the volumes required for meaningful amounts of energy are just mind boggling. So you don't just need elevation, you need thousand of acres of valley or crater that you can flood and people tend to get a little testy about geoengineering at those scales these days.

Meh? Couple hundred meters of elevation and a hundred acres runs a city for day. Source - the city I live in which has this exact setup.