[jamez1]

Hornsdale power reserve derives most of it's revenue from selling ancillary services, it does not provide energy. Hornsdale's success is not foreshadowing a battery revolution unfortunately.

The reason nuclear costs so much is because we've stopped building plants. There's no industry anymore, let alone economies of scale. It's a fallacious argument to say it costs too much. If we went all in on nuclear to tackle climate change the costs would quickly collapse. After all, they were built in the 70s and dramatically decarbonized the industry at the time.

[toomuchtodo]

I do not agree.

For example, EnergyAustralia just announced that they're pulling forward the retirement of Yallourn coal powered station by four years [1], and building a 350MW utility scale energy system to absorb and discharge renewable power to offset the coal plant being retired:

"Under the agreement, EnergyAustralia will retire Yallourn in mid-2028 and build new storage capacity through a 350 MW, four-hour, utility-scale battery project that will be completed by 2026. This ensures energy storage is built to firm increased renewable energy in Victoria, before Yallourn exits the system.

EnergyAustralia’s goal is to be carbon neutral by 2050. Yallourn’s retirement will reduce the company’s emissions profile by 60 per cent, accelerating the pathway towards achieving this ambition."

As we speak (mid day local Victoria time), renewables are providing 48% of total electrical demand in Victoria [2].

[1] https://www.energyaustralia.com.au/about-us/energy-generatio...

[2] https://opennem.org.au/energy/vic1/?range=1d&interval=30m

[toomuchtodo]

Also: https://reneweconomy.com.au/australias-big-fossil-fuel-gener... ("Australia’s big fossil fuel generators are being replaced by big batteries")

"But what is clear is that there is a massive shift happening here. Coal is on the way out, as is “baseload” gas, and wind and solar and storage facilities, particularly battery storage, are on the way in. And many of the biggest batteries are being planned at the sites of coal and gas generators already closed or expected to close in coming years or decades."

"The sizes it is mooting are up to 500MW (and maybe two hours storage) for Liddell, 250MW and four hours storage at Torrens (1,000MWh), and 200MW and four hours storage (800MWh) at Loy Yang A. The final call on storage duration will be determined by the sort of market opportunities it sees for the batteries in the different states – longer for storing excess wind and solar, shorter for grid security services."