The $2.5 trillion reason we can’t rely on batteries to cleanup the grid

[David H]

The Moss Landing Power Plant could soon be the site of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery project.

Fluctuating solar and wind power require lots of energy storage,and lithium-ion batteries seem like the obvious choice—but they are far too expensive to play a major role.

Building the level of renewable generation and storage necessary to reach California’s goals would drive up costs exponentially, from $49 per megawatt-hour of generation at 50 percent to $1,612 at 100 percent. And that's assuming lithium-ion batteries will cost roughly a third what they do now

Check out the entire story at: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/6116 ... -the-grid/