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Environment & Energy

dumbcat

(2,161 posts)

3. I really wish they could get their terms straight

Reply to TexasTowelie (Original post)

Wed Dec 17, 2014, 11:37 AM

Dec 2014

"... estimated that Texas could add up to five gigawatts of storage capacity to its grid"

I wish they would get power and energy and watts and watt-hrs straight. Five gigawatts is power capacity, not energy storage capacity. Yes, power capacity is an important measure in this context, but it is not the whole story. But so is the energy storage capacity in gigawatt-hours. How long can that storage capacity provide that five gigawatts? Five minutes? An hour? Four hours? It makes a difference in both utility and economics.

"Those batteries could store enough electricity to power 1.5 million Texas homes on a hot summer day."

Again, for how long? One minute? Ten minutes? An hour? It makes a difference.

Yeah, it's just a pet peeve of mine.

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Highlight:

Texas Law Could Short-Circuit Battery Breakthrough [View all] TexasTowelie Dec 2014 OP

Um, does the newspaper's headline writer know a short-circuit is a bad thing??? hunter Dec 2014 #1

It's an appropriate term due to the nature of the law. kentauros Dec 2014 #2

I really wish they could get their terms straight dumbcat Dec 2014 #3

Yep. In any case these batteries are not really about energy storage... hunter Dec 2014 #4

The stored energy is used dumbcat Dec 2014 #5

Mathematically, yes. hunter Dec 2014 #6