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Comment by Incipient | Hacker News Reader

Gas HAS to be used as a backup for renewables today (or at least in places without good pumped hydro?). Enough batteries to supply an entire grid for a day or two is just out of reach today.

At least in Australia, I'm not sure how the dynamics go with such a geographically diverse grid like Europe.

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Yes, certainly, I agree. But, at the same time, we should be electrifying and rapidly deploying storage (both energy and heat) as quickly as possible. "Burn the ships" and commit.

Battery boom brings round-the-clock solar closer, Ember says - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49466337 - August 2026

CATL Secures 2GWh Sodium-Ion Storage Deal with Solarpro for Eastern Europe - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49219960 - August 2026

> Solar PV supplied more than 10% of global electricity in the first half of 2026, but generation remains heavily concentrated around midday. Ember says rapidly expanding, cheaper battery storage could shift 34% of new daily solar generation to non-solar hours in 2026, bringing round-the-clock solar closer.

The World Crossed a Major Solar Milestone [3TW] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49151977 - August 2026

UNIGRID's sodium-ion home battery debuts in Europe, US is next - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48867257 - July 2026

Ember Energy: EU gas demand set to drop 7% by 2030, making new gas investments risky - https://ember-energy.org/latest-updates/eu-gas-demand-set-to... - June 17th, 2025

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