Giant Batteries Are Transforming the Way the U.S. Uses Electricity

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By Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich, The New York Times. 

Excerpt: They’re delivering solar power after dark in California and helping to stabilize grids in other states. And the technology is expanding rapidly. ...Solar power is plentiful during the day but disappears by evening, just as people get home from work and electricity demand spikes. ...Since 2020, California has installed more giant batteries than anywhere in the world apart from China. They can soak up excess solar power during the day and store it for use when it gets dark ...Between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. on April 30, ...batteries supplied more than one-fifth of California’s electricity and, for a few minutes, pumped out 7,046 megawatts of electricity, akin to the output from seven large nuclear reactors. ...Over the past three years, battery storage capacity on the nation’s grids has grown tenfold, to 16,000 megawatts. This year, it is expected to nearly double again, with the biggest growth in Texas, California and Arizona.... 

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