The electrical grid needs dependable energy sources, not “storage”.
“The electrical grid needs dependable energy sources, not “storage”.”
Grids are required to maintain stability in the loss of of a plant or plants. This requires that they have plants in standby or running at less than full power.
Use of storage batteries could be cheaper than maintaining an extra power plant only for reserve.
Storage would stop a lot of waste - in cars and homes.
You should look at ERCOT numbers. With grid level storage people are buying half cent per kWh power and selling it later for 10 to 20 cents. Which is what a gas turbine peak plant needs to charge with $3.55 MMBTU gas prices. Those storage companies are not only stabilizing the grid with near instant power ramp times they also are making a handy profit which fills our state tax revenue pot with tax revenues. Texas has 10,000+ megawatts of energy storage on the grid that’s ten reactors worth. With large enough storage you can have huge swings of very cheap solar and wind filling those storage units then sell it back at rates that compete with gas turbines. Coal is a dinosaur in Texas it’s going extinct and with the costs of scrubbers being $100s of millions to not even get close to the clear air of natural gas they will never compete in the wholesale market for LCOE once those scrubbers are required even free coal at $0 MMBTU cannot get under $50 megawatt hour. Gas turbines the expensive combined cycle kind hit $33 at $2.50 MMBTU upwards of $105 with $4.5 MMBTU gas and once those huge LNG export plants get up and running what are the chances of $2.5 MMBTU gas being veer again when it costs $3-6 to ship it to Japan and they pay $15 MMBTU with a smile. Yeah gas prices shoot up once those LNG plants come on line it’s a boom for the investors in the industry while the locals pay the price for it via increased gas prices. Captive saturated market suddenly opened up to the world fungible market what do you think is going to happen then the world prices is in the $8-15 range yeah good luck buttercup.
Texas is the national leader in solar, wind and power storage no one touches us. This is exactly why we had half cent power this morning and last week it was negative $8 ,$10 and $5 multiple days as the fronts came with 50 knot plus winds for days at a time. So much wind and solar ERCOT was paying people to take power off the grid at one point 6000 megawatts was flowing into the power storage that’s 6 reactors worth no one touches that in the USA. Texas could power the whole UK with our grid and then some.
Solar is and will continue to be the cheapest source of electrons humans have come up with check with the IEA they keep the numbers handy. Fusion might get close if ...IF it ever works. We already have a giant thermonuclear reactor in the sky it comes out once per day and showers well over of million times what humans use on our little blue ball.
CANDU nukes the cheapest energy source for nuclear power due to using natural uranium for fuel can hit with state funded capital at 2.5% interest $2800 per KW capital outlays, $60 per KG uranium and Canadian levels of O&M at best $18 per megawatt hour at the plant gate. No one gives 2.5% and no single plant in the USA since the 1970s has been built for less than $5000 per KW and PWR fuel is twice what CANDU fuel costs due to enrichment costs. The two newest units in GA cost over $10000 per KW in capex they have to sell power at $60+ per megawatt hour to break even.
Grid scale solar routinely hits $1-2 with $5 being the norm for ERCOT its no wonder the two ABWR licenced and approved at the South Texas Nuclear Project got canned they could never compete with sub $10 per MWh sales.
I am a huge nuclear power fan, the Koreans and Japanese build plants in 39 months for around $2800 KW with gov subsidized capital at very low rates you can get into the $20 per MWh range cheap enough for baseload but peak with solar during the day will kill that in costs. Storage is already cost competitive with $100 MWh peak gas plants and when not if sodium or seawater cells get to LCOS under $30 there will be no competition with gas even GTCC plants, coal being uncompetitive with scrubbers at any price gas can hit let alone nukes. No more free stack pollution you must be at least as clean as gas or you don’t get to burn coal anymore. Sorry coal bros it’s dead Jim.