alt Hacker NewsAbout 10-15 percentage points less efficient because of losses pumping the water uphill though, and slower to react (seconds vs milliseconds) which will probably force it out of the fast frequency response market which batteries have rapidly saturated.
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jacquesm • yesterday at 11:02 AM
It's pretty much tailor made for batteries and flywheels. 2 seconds is not feasible for pumped hydro, though it still is impressively fast at less than 30 seconds. It is interesting how all of these technologies have their sweet spots.
Batteries are not perfect either. The EIA published numbers that grid scale batteries were something like 81% roundtrip efficiency.