California Grid Breezes Through Heatwave with Batteries

I work in the power generation industry. The large scale introduction of Battery Storage is going to be a game changer for renewables since it will allow overproduction during the day to be stored for the evening peak. I think the current fad of peaking plants is somewhat overblown, as the average large scale battery storage system will not face the issues with starting reliability that can be present on large gas turbine power plants, which not only affect the grid but can be very expensive as a failed starts consumes large amounts of fuel to no effect. In the end, this will drive carbon-producing power capabilities to largely only run during the night when solar is out of service.

Batteries are absolutely destroying demand for natural gas in California:

https://reneweconomy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/calif...

Here are some useful graphs showing how electricty demand varies by region, month and time of day [1].

As expected, California peaks in July because there's more demand for cooling than heating. But what's a little surprising is that July is peak demand for every region.

There are many reasons why solar is so attractive as a power source, including:

1. It's the only form of power with direct electricty generation. There's no heating water to turn a turbine;

2. Solar basically has no moving parts. You can point panels towards the Sun to increase efficiency but the panel itself and transmission has no moving parts;

3. Solar panels continue to massively reduce in price and increase in efficiency and it's not clear where this ends;

4. Obviously solar generates its pwower when the Sun is shining. This conincides with when most power is usedk. Adding solar to the power generation mix reduces the peak load required to generate from other sources;

5. Solar installations can be really small, including on individual houses, reducing the transmission capacity required for last-mile and regional power transport.

Batteries are just one method to store excess power for variable (renewable) energy sources. Another is carbon sequestration to create fuel directly, called Carbon Capture and Storage ("CCS") [2]. This isn't economic yet. But it may have applications in, say, cold climates where battery performance noticeably degrades.

Solar power is the future.

[1]: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=42915

[2]: https://www.iisd.org/articles/deep-dive/why-carbon-capture-s...

The big wattage numbers are great - but it is unclear how many watt-hours can be supplied - how many hours can California's grid run with batteries?

It appears that the batteries are 4 hour batteries. Two questions: is there excess solar capacity in the winter to charge the batteries? How do the batteries perform in the winter - total storage capacity and discharge rate?

It is misleading to compare a battery array that lasts for 4 hours to a nuclear powered electric plant that supplies energy at a constant 24/7.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2024/05/01/california-crosses-10...

"Developers plan to add 6,813 MW of battery projects in the California Independent System Operator's (CAISO) domain this year, dominated by four-hour lithium-ion systems, roughly double their additions in 2023, according to an analysis of S&P Global Market Intelligence data."

Hope other states follow. The fact Arizona is still 80%+ non-renewable is just such a missed opportunity.

This is an interesting data point. Grid scale batteries are a pretty big change in how grids are managed, things like "anticipating load" and starting up "peaker plants" to catch that load are mitigated by the ability to wait and see while the batteries fill in the gap.

Fission stans in shambles.

https://observablehq.com/@jwb/caiso-battery-discharge-histor...

I was confused until I realized title omits "renewables". Having peak solar demand during peak air conditioning demand is beautiful harmony.

"The uploader has not made this video available in your country."

First video on the page. I'm guessing this is probably a news report, right?

The distribution grid did not do as well — lots of outages in the sierras and points north.

Compare and contrast with Texas.

No heat wave in SoCal yet. Let me know when the grid breezes through all of LA and OC having a heatwave.