So....probably a good opportunity to bring up a few interesting numbers from AEMO's latest Quarterly Dynamics report for Q3 2019, on battery storage performance. Some charts below https://twitter.com/dmichie66/status/1198681905744318464

Currently, lithium ion batteries are surprisingly good at providing rapid-response grid services that can inject or consume power quickly, so the frequency of the grid can recover from surprising things (like power lines falling over).

They're not so good at long-term storage.

Here's the thing: it's the short term rapid response stuff ('security' requirements) that the grid needs right now, rather than the long term stuff ('reliability', which will be a bigger thing in the near future).

The latest @AEMO_Media Quarterly Dynamics report estimates revenue from hydro power soaking up power and emitting it over long stretches, versus the new, tiny battery systems doing fast-injection stuff to help grid management.

And the small batteries are earning more $$:

The installed capacity of pumped hydro is relatively huge - but it's earning far less.

This is because the energy market is rewarding the services that batteries provide, rather than the service large-scale pumped hydro provides:

Storage is a spanner in a box of tools you can implement to ease the integration of renewable energy into a modern grid. You don't need a 1:1 installed capacity for renewables:batteries. They punch *way* above their weight, as you can see above.

'the output is so tiny!' is an effort to distract from their intended function, and to imply a failure in a task they were never really meant to perform.

Also see: Alan Jones https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/12/commentators-who-dont-understand-the-grid-should-butt-out-of-the-battery-debate

Extra chart: installed capacity versus the technology used to provide raise 'frequency control and ancillary services' (keeping the lights on stuff) in the east coast grid.

Batteries are 0.4% of installed capacity, but supplied 9% of Raise FCAS in Q318 and 21% in Q319