Taking charge of the grid.,

The July 12 Seattle Times Opinion “Taking charge of the grid” raised concerns “Washington’s clean energy transition will fail unless battery storage becomes a more prevalent part of the electricity equation”.  The result of Democrats in the legislature ratcheting down fossil-fueled electricity sources with their passing 2019 Clean Energy Act.  That it’s imperative to make the grid more reliable for periods of high demand with battery storage at dozens of sites if Washingtonians insist on a future free of hydrocarbon-based power sources. 

The Opinion included data the Snoqualmie facility could discharge up to 130 megawatts for 4 hours but failed to mention its cost or schedule, or the cost and schedule for the “dozens of facilities” needed on the west side.  (The global average price for a lithium-ion battery pack recently hit a record low of $108 per kWh).  Also, no mention was made of the need for grid-scale batteries needing from 28 to 67 liters of water per kWh for mining and end-of-life recycling of the lithium.   

Thus, Washington’s Democratic legislature 2019 passage of the Clean Energy Transformation Act will require spending unknown hundreds of millions of dollars and gallons of water to provide power to the grid when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow, renewables that make up about 10% of the state’s electricity.    While someone near Snoqualmie facility may not notice it once its built, someone will have to pay the cost.

It’s also unlikely Washingtonians will ever see a future free of hydrogen-based power sources.  The five refineries in the state currently process 650,000 barrels of crude oil a day, with consumption the 15^thhighest in the nation.  Since 2019, the electrical power sector has been the state’s largest natural gas consumer.  The latest attempt to reduce emissions, the $4.3B carbon allowance fees and future fees will deter less than half the states CO2 emissions. (The major non-taxed CO2 emitter, the  42.5 million metric tons used for transportation.)  

Any claim the batteries are necessity in the fight against climate change is belied by the fact batteries only back up for Washington’s wind and solar electrical power grid, again, currently only 10% of the total.  That any climate change benefit from increasing their power and reducing Washington’s CO2 emissions is limited by the fact the state only emits 1.2% of the country’s 11% of planet’s CO2, or ~0.12% of the planet’s  total emissions.  A benefit dwarfed by the jet stream over Washington, from China’s 30% of the  total CO2 emissions.  

The bottom line is “Taking charge of the grid” with battery storage facilities is a very expensive way to make up for the failure of Democrats in legislature to recognize the state’s CO2 emission don’t cause global warming.