Updates
Later, 12:09 a.m., August 19, 2020: for additional computations see the first comment which I've brought up here:
I looked up the cost of the battery plant Tesla is building at Moss Landing (on the site of an existing power plant to use the tranmission infrastructure) and the cost per MWH works out to $110K (80million/730MWH).
That's 4 hours @ 182MW.
Tesla has the lowest battery costs of basically anyone. So ... if California needs 4000MW x 4 hours = 16000 MWH of capacity that would be $1.8Bn. @JoeBiden would write them that check...
And Elon Musk would love to endorse it.
Original Post
From an earlier post either last night or early this morning:
- yesterday, demand for today forecast to be 50,485 MW;
- historic peak: 50,270 MW, July 24, 2006;
- today, demand has increased from 50,485 MW to 50,553 MW; link here;
- capacity expected to be: 46,619 MW
- forecast deficit: =3,914, which will be close to a record deficit this year, if not a record deficit; I think I recall governor of California citing a 4,000-MW deficit earlier;
A reader has done the math. With a little editing:
Well, there is one little problem. Below you see the math for 1000 MW storage. Just multiple by 4 = $28.8 billion.
Even the most optimistic (lying through their green teeth) battery storage promoters shouldn’t be taken seriously when projecting Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) at less than $200/KWh.
$200,000/MWh, $200 Million/1000 MWh.
Getting through the 3 PM – 9 PM peak requires $200 million X 6 hrs for every 1,000 MW of demand = $1.2 billion. (I have no idea what current real world prices are for storage, but my hunch is that it’s about $600/KWh. = $7.2 billion for 6 hours of 1,000 MW demand….give it up).
If there are errors in the editing, blame me but the point is well taken.
