alt Hacker NewsThat seems fairly obvious, but afaik the problem is not bridging four hours, it’s bridging a cloudy week without wind in winter. For that gas currently seems cheaper
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Ajedi32 • today at 4:51 PM
I guess the point is that when combined with a source of dispatchable base load power like a combined cycle gas turbine or nuclear, batteries are now cheaper than open cycle gas peaker plants for bridging short (4 hours or less) spikes in demand.
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pixl97 • today at 4:43 PM
>For that gas currently seems cheape
Well, other than destroying the planet, but hey, let's just hide those costs.
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happymellon • today at 4:46 PM
The UK relies far too much on gas turbines, rather than renewables and as a consequence we have energy costs far higher than other European neighbours.
Gas is not cheap, it basically doubles your costs.
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They're talking about open-cycle gas turbines which have a specific set of jobs to do for the grid. And which batteries are better at now.
Those turbines aren't great for longer periods, they're pointlessly inefficient if you don't need their ability to peak for short periods.