GB is unlikely to fully benefit from ever more Wind and Solar generation *capacity* until immense electrical storage technology becomes cheap and ubiquitous
I've made attempts to estimate the storage requirements, but inter-seasonal is vastly different (greater) than inter-day.
For one sunny GB day last spring I estimated 42,000 MWh to smooth the day's Solar power across 24 hours.
Personal note: if Tesla Powerwalls are Li-ion I wouldn't want one inside my house. The probability of thermal runaway is vanishingly small, but consequence if it does not acceptable. Inherently safe to have it outside the building.
I think any electrical grid based on renewables must take into account both inter-day and inter-season storage costs at the very least.
Part of my original point is that MWh is not a meaningful unit for most people. But if you convert it into financial cost using the link that I posted, then it is very meaningful.
I've deliberately stayed with MW & MWh because greater units are definitely meaningless to most people. And I think most people understand that 1 MWh is the energy stored in 20 EVs at 50 kWh each. (Engineering approximation.)
I write from the UK where Powerwalls are far less common than EVs.
I've also encountered issues with US websites detecting my IP address and behaving differently to my contact vs to an American enquiry. For example, the ERCOT website simply refuses to let me see anything. Even if I got into the Powerwall website I suspect it would probably give me UK-based pricing... so I'll stick with the 20 EVs comparison.
Excellent analysis. I appreciate your effort to plow through the numbers.
To make it easier for others to digest, I would if you could convert the extra storage needed into the price to buy Tesla Powerwalls:
https://www.tesla.com/powerwall/design
Thank you.
I've made attempts to estimate the storage requirements, but inter-seasonal is vastly different (greater) than inter-day.
For one sunny GB day last spring I estimated 42,000 MWh to smooth the day's Solar power across 24 hours.
Personal note: if Tesla Powerwalls are Li-ion I wouldn't want one inside my house. The probability of thermal runaway is vanishingly small, but consequence if it does not acceptable. Inherently safe to have it outside the building.
https://chrisbond.substack.com/p/solar-power-a-growing-problem
I think any electrical grid based on renewables must take into account both inter-day and inter-season storage costs at the very least.
Part of my original point is that MWh is not a meaningful unit for most people. But if you convert it into financial cost using the link that I posted, then it is very meaningful.
Hello again Michael.
I've deliberately stayed with MW & MWh because greater units are definitely meaningless to most people. And I think most people understand that 1 MWh is the energy stored in 20 EVs at 50 kWh each. (Engineering approximation.)
I write from the UK where Powerwalls are far less common than EVs.
I've also encountered issues with US websites detecting my IP address and behaving differently to my contact vs to an American enquiry. For example, the ERCOT website simply refuses to let me see anything. Even if I got into the Powerwall website I suspect it would probably give me UK-based pricing... so I'll stick with the 20 EVs comparison.
In Australia we are seeing the capacity factor of renewables decrease as renewable penetration increases.
https://open.substack.com/pub/criticaluncertainties/p/dont-worry-offshore-wind-will-save?r=nv184&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post