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California’s new eight-hour battery is making its grid even more renewable. California has switched on Tumbleweed, the first major US battery project able to discharge power for eight hours, twice the usual duration for grid batteries. Canary Media https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/long-duration-energy-storage/pioneering-grid-battery-california #ShareGoodNewsToo

Pioneering grid battery nudges California closer to 24/7 clean energy

The Tumbleweed installation just went online in Kern County. It can store clean energy and discharge it for eight hours straight, a harbinger of what’s to…

Canary Media

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Svante 4d ago

@adapalmer I think that's interesting. Variable energy sources such as solar need storage (or »backup«) for about ⅔ of their output.

The article seems to mention that the doubling of capacity took two years. I guess the initial build then also took 2 years, plus maybe one for the site setup (?). So that makes it 5 years, for 125 MW * 8 h of storage.

Which is apparently not too slow.

Contrast a nuclear power reactor built in 7 years, for 1400 MW of 24/7 generation.

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Tom 3d ago

@Ardubal @adapalmer

This expansion was first of a kind.

In California the construction phase for batteries is generally 12-18 mnths.

In the USA current _target_ build times for nukes is 7-8 yrs & in practice is 12+ yrs (do you really think California will build them faster than everyone else?).

Duration extension projects do not require interconnection changes so expect more 12-18 mnths 8hr expansions coming soon.

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Tom

@Ardubal @adapalmer

Financially its a good approach too.

The site generated first cash flows in 2.5 years which reduces the cost of capital considerably, as does the overall loan lengths for a reasonable predictable short construction phase.

In the USA (and Europe) nukes have no supply chain, no pipeline of skilled workers and high risk financing. They really need a long term government framework of training, supplier subsidies and project loan guarantees to become viable.