Posted by ttbn, Thursday, 22 July 2021 9:08:21 AM Fire is one problem with lithium batteries but operating cost and scalability could be the bigger issues. Pre Covid Australia was using about 262 Twh of annual electricity. According to credible estimates Australia would need 1% of that (3.65 average days) or 2.6 Twh of storage. The Snowy 2 pumped hydro project when completed will store 0.35 Twh. Four hour lithium ion has a levelised cost of US$150 per Mwh yet realtime generators on the national grid have been happy with A$50-$100 per Mwh, albeit some of it with high CO2. Despite the rising cost of gas most of this new wind and solar will be balanced by gas fired power, not energy storage. The new small modular reactors could replace retiring coal plant cheaper than future gas with a bonus of inbuilt frequency stability, possibly no new transmission lines and no CO2.