The New Normal for the Grid: Batteries

In nearly every corner of the country, energy storage projects are finding their way onto the grid — they’re getting bigger, cheaper, more diverse, and even a little bit weirder.  Most of all, they’re just becoming normal. This week, we’re talking about the new normal for power operations. It includes a lot of batteries. And maybe some air tanks, water pumps and cranes too. GTM Staff Writer Julian Spector joins us as a guest co-host to round up the most topical projects and tell us where the storage market is headed. Then we’ll look at a novel approach to long-duration storage: a gravity-based system from Energy Vault that just got a major injection of Japanese venture dollars. How skeptical should we be? And finally, we’ll look at all the other alternatives to lithium-ion that are vying for traction in the market. Will pumped hydro see a revival? Can flow batteries finally prove themselves? Read Julian Spector’s reporting here. And sign up for the GTM newsletter here.  Support for this podcast is brought to you by Sungrow. With the world’s most powerful 250-kilowatt, 1,500-volt string inverter, Sungrow is providing disruptive technology for utility-scale projects. Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.