Stored energy can bridge the gap when energy is needed but is not available. Such stores have become essential in modern life. Initially it was just the dry battery in a torch or radio and the lead acid battery in a car providing lighting and a means of starting. The capacity of such a 12 volt battery might be 100 Ampere hours – that is 1.2 kilo-watt hours (kWh). But the scale has increased by a factor of 100,000 and more. For example, the capacity of the Hornsdale Power Reserve in S. Australia, famously provided by Tesla, is now 193 MWh.
The demand for increased storage comes from the intermittency of wind and solar. These threaten breaks in supply lasting for days, even weeks. With national electricity consumption figures in tens of giga-watts and more expected with increased electrification, stores with a capacity thousands of times larger than Hornsdale are needed. Those currently under construction or planned could provide back-up for 3 to 4 hours which is simply inadequate.
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