RENEWCONNECT - All about renewables & power sector

Summary of the Article: Pairing nuclear reactors with molten‑salt thermal energy storage (TES) creates a decoupled “heat → storage → power” architecture that lets reactors run steadily at high capacity factor while the plant dispatches electricity flexibly (and at higher peak output) to follow volatile net‑load and price signals. The concept is no longer theoretical: TerraPower’s Natrium demonstration (a 345 MWe sodium‑cooled fast reactor with molten‑salt energy storage able to boost to ~500 MWe ) is under construction at Kemmerer, WY, with regulatory milestones and a DOE cost‑share under ARDP—establishing a commercial‑scale reference case for nuclear‑with‑storage. [world-nucl...r-news.org] , [neimagazine.com] For existing light‑water reactors (LWRs) and upcoming SMRs , multiple U.S. national‑lab studies outline practical TES couplings (e.g., two‑tank sensible molten‑salt systems) that can time‑shift nuclear heat for multi‑hour to inter‑day delivery and enable cogeneration (hy...

S ummary of the Article: If hydrogen storage (H₂S) were to undercut batteries on cost , the power system would reorganize around electrolytic production + cavern storage + flexible conversion (fuel cells and H₂‑turbines) as the dominant form of long‑duration and seasonal storage—while lithium‑ion would remain the workhorse for short‑duration (sub‑8‑hour) tasks. The combination of terawatt‑hour‑scale salt caverns , rapidly scaling electrolysers (driven by policies like the DOE Hydrogen Shot and EU hydrogen market reforms), and grid‑forming H₂‑to‑power would (i) soak up VRE overbuild at low marginal cost, (ii) firm multi‑week deficits (“wind droughts”), and (iii) reshape market design to value energy shifting and adequacy over weeks/months rather than hours. However, for this scenario to be durable, round‑trip efficiency (RTE) penalties in power‑to‑hydrogen‑to‑power (PtHP) must be offset by very low storage and hydrogen production costs, alongside policy that internalises resour...

Summary of the Article:  Blanketing the world’s hilly regions with closed‑loop pumped storage (two off‑river reservoirs linked by penstock) would unlock terawatt‑scale , long‑duration flexibility at system level—stabilizing high‑renewables grids with synchronous inertia, black‑start capability, and multi‑hour to multi‑day energy shifting. The global technical resource is not the bottleneck : independent geospatial assessments identify hundreds of thousands of prospective sites with storage potential orders of magnitude above what the energy transition needs. The binding constraints are permitting timelines, environmental and social safeguards, site‑specific water availability, and market designs that under‑value long‑duration flexibility. A credible path to scale combines closed‑loop siting away from rivers , standardized sustainability tools, and policy frameworks that remunerate capacity, flexibility, and resilience—not just arbitrage. [cell.com] , [re100.eng.anu.edu.au] , [...

  Executive summary If second‑life EV batteries (SLBs) were redeployed at scale into stationary storage, power systems would unlock a low‑cost, low‑materials‑intensity pool of multi‑hour flexibility that complements new lithium‑ion deployments and reduces critical‑minerals pressure— provided we standardize safety, data, and warranties from pack to project. Recent tailwinds—rapid growth in both EV stock and grid batteries (42 GW added globally in 2023), steep cost declines in turnkey BESS, and new policy tools like the EU Battery Regulation’s digital passport—make the case compelling and increasingly feasible. [iea.org] , [energy-storage.news] , [eur-lex.europa.eu] 1) Why this matters now Global grid‑scale storage is accelerating: 2024 saw the U.S. reach 26 GW of utility‑scale batteries , with a further ~19.6 GW planned in 2025, while worldwide battery additions more than doubled in 2023. At the same time, EV uptake (14 million new electric cars in 2023) is seeding a future wave ...