We’d need thousands of these.
They’re great for load balancing, especially when coupled with compressed air to get them generating within seconds, but we’d have to flood all the glens of Scotland and Wales to make a dent in our needs.
However, Dinorwig, UK is far larger at 9.1 GWh, and is 40 years old.
Timelines go down as battery manufacturing scales up. TBMs and mountain cutting are not getting faster or cheaper.
I mean somebody should make a giant battery backup, but Dinorwig does have a pretty big advantage in terms of existing-ness.
Cruachan 2 will take total site capacity to 1GWh https://www.drax.com/about-us/our-projects/cruachan-2/
> This could include the introduction by the UK Government of a ‘revenue stabilisation mechanism’ in the form of an adapted Cap and Floor scheme to support investment in long-duration storage. This would also be alongside broader consideration of how the electricity market, including the Capacity Mechanism and the Flexibility Markets, value the contribution of low carbon flexible assets such as pumped storage.
AKA... They're waiting for a government handout before they begin build. While they can 'buy low, sell high' and make a lot of money, they also want a government guarantee that they will make that much money. Payouts from that guarantee will effectively become an electricity tax.
