Hacker News Reader

Comment by toomuchtodo | Hacker News Reader

Batteries charge for free when renewables push spot prices to zero or negative and discharge when most needed and getting paid to do so; they comin’ for fossil gas generation that pays to burn (fuel) and spin (per hour O&M).

View on HN

They might even be paid for consuming power because that provides stability to the grid [0] in such a situation. Too little load causes the frequency on the grid to rise which is only acceptable within narrow limits.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancillary_services_(electric_p...

Absolutely, there is no doubt that are stealing grid service revenue from spinning thermal, and they also provide black start services (jump starting larger generators when they go out through an isolated transmission path).

I was under the impression that “grid forming” as opposed to “grid following” inverters were not a solved problem. Can you cite any battery plant with documented tests of energizing transmission or distribution systems?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-03-08/tesla-is-... | https://archive.today/xU9Kg

https://www.ercot.com/files/docs/2024/01/12/Tesla%20BESS%20G...

Gambit Energy, owned by Tesla in Texas. Megapack supports grid forming in production (Hawaii and South Australia installations as well). “Virtual Machine Mode.”

It is solved, which shouldn’t be controversial considering Tesla’s power control maturity.

Thanks for the link, looks like it is new development in the last 2 years which is the blink of an eye in utility timeframes.

Happy to help, another link you might find useful on the topic.

https://cleantechnica.com/2024/07/14/new-grid-forming-invert...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com