The two main ways that chemical batteries are used at electrical grid-scale projects are for frequency control and for time-shifting. It turns out frequency control is quite profitable if you're early to market. And other energy storage can't perform quite as well as chemical batteries on that.
In terms of storing energy for later use, kind of an arbitrage thing, we're really not sure what the winning technology will be. Pumped hydro is great if you happen to have just the right geography to support it. But there are other things like molten salt, stacking bricks, or flywheels that could work as well. This market is still as wide open as the fin de siècle age of invention. It's going to be profitable though, because solar and wind prices are continuing to drop.
In terms of storing energy for later use, kind of an arbitrage thing, we're really not sure what the winning technology will be. Pumped hydro is great if you happen to have just the right geography to support it. But there are other things like molten salt, stacking bricks, or flywheels that could work as well. This market is still as wide open as the fin de siècle age of invention. It's going to be profitable though, because solar and wind prices are continuing to drop.
"Kitto daijoubu da yo." - Sakura Kinomoto