It's probably some kind of hedge strategy for energy crises like the recent Texas disaster (which appears to have been very profitable for GS [1]). Having this capacity around when other sources go down means they'll be able to provide power in similar situations and so reap massive profits. Climate chaos == $$$ I guess.
> Bloomberg March 5, 2021
> Goldman Sachs Group Inc. could gain more than $200 million from the physical sale of power and natural gas and from financial hedges after spot prices surged across much of the U.S., according to people with knowledge of the matter. Morgan Stanley’s gains could come in under $200 million, according to a person with familiar with the matter, and Bank of America Corp. stands to rake in profits as well...
> The historic cold that battered the central U.S. last month led to sweeping blackouts as ice formed on wind turbines and pipelines froze, forcing oil and gas wells to shut. As traders and power suppliers struggled to find fuel to meet obligations, prices skyrocketed. In Oklahoma, gas traded at more than 300 times normal levels, while electricity in Texas surged to $9,000 per megawatt-hour.
> Having this capacity around when other sources go down means they'll be able to provide power in similar situations and so reap massive profits. Climate chaos == $$$ I guess.
I understand that people don't like when others profit from a crisis, but this is also how we solve these problems. Having more generation capacity than we otherwise would have is a good thing, even if Goldman make money on the back of it.
I'm not arguing there isn't more to be done, but when people say "greed is good" this is what they mean.
This is where capitalism goes off the rails. Instead of investing $250m into making the power grid more secure and reliable, they choose to invest in profiting off disaster.
providing instant-on, scalable energy capacity to the grid is both potentially profiting off disaster and investing 250m into making the grid more reliable and secure.
As others said, energy storage technology is going to be the only thing that makes renewable energy more than a curiosity. Renewable energy is neither reliable nor predictable which is why it can not replace base load requirements.
However, if we had sufficient energy storage capacity, they we could indeed fully transition to renewable energy once and for all!
You are sorely mistaken, this sort of battery is exactly what makes the grid more reliable and secure. Especially on grids like Texas, which have massive amounts of renewables.
Batteries are the Swiss Army knife of the grid, they can fix all sorts of problems, from inadequate transmission capacity, to frequency regulations, to peaking needs.
> Bloomberg March 5, 2021
> Goldman Sachs Group Inc. could gain more than $200 million from the physical sale of power and natural gas and from financial hedges after spot prices surged across much of the U.S., according to people with knowledge of the matter. Morgan Stanley’s gains could come in under $200 million, according to a person with familiar with the matter, and Bank of America Corp. stands to rake in profits as well...
> The historic cold that battered the central U.S. last month led to sweeping blackouts as ice formed on wind turbines and pipelines froze, forcing oil and gas wells to shut. As traders and power suppliers struggled to find fuel to meet obligations, prices skyrocketed. In Oklahoma, gas traded at more than 300 times normal levels, while electricity in Texas surged to $9,000 per megawatt-hour.
Full article: [1] https://www.investorvillage.com/smbd.asp?mb=5028&mn=126049&p...