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Nickrl's avatar

Thats one hell of comprehensive slide deck!!

Pretty unusual to find so much free information that is so up to date. The picture looks rosy but i still see solid sate batteries are still just round the corner though!

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Todd De Ryck's avatar

I flipped through that Volta Foundation report as well when it first came out. What stood out for me was the 363GWh generated by BESS globally in 2024. In 2024, there were approximately 30,000TWh of electricity generated globally. So BESS generated 0.00121% of global electricity in 2024. Are my numbers correct, am I doing something wrong? Sure seems BESS gets ink and press not at all in alignment with actual production. So BESS is supposed to help shift wind and solar production? What %age of global electricity generation should BESS produce in order to be an effective partner for wind and solar globally? I don't expect anyone to provide answers, these are just thoughts that pop into my head. I am certainly not as confident in BESS as their promoters are.

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Ike Bottema's avatar

Good points Todd but a gentle reminder that batteries don't generate electricity, just time-shift its use.

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Todd De Ryck's avatar

Ah yes, very good, Ike, thanks. Maybe I should use the word "delivered", instead of "generated", what do you think?

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Ike Bottema's avatar

"Buffer" perhaps? "Deliver" doesn't include the concept of capturing the electrical energy. I tend to default to "Store" but that doesn't include the concept of making use of the electricity.

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