I just assumed that the article focuses on the pumped part because it's new and exciting. They also discuss that this opens up opportunities for wind and solar, any thoughts on that? It kind of implies the wind and solar projects couldn't happen without it.

“Being down in Central Otago, this project will unlock a great deal of wind and solar development in Southland. There’s a lot of projects in Southland that need support for the intermittency of wind and solar.”

If the project goes ahead, it will provide firming for “several thousand megawatts of wind”, making investment in renewables more viable for generators, he says. Onslow investors “could well be part of that”.

[–] absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz 2 points 4 days ago

Yes....

The idea of the 'infinite' grid; is that all points are 'equivalent' in the system. Local generation is no more advantageous than remote generation.

This is of course not how reality works. But it isn't too far off, when you consider how efficient the HT system is at transferring energy.

Local generation mainly provides resilience for when there is a natural disaster. This is obviously extremely important; but it is not a justification in and of itself. Also what does 'provide firming' actually mean when we consider the context.

If there is several thousand megawatts of wind planned and economically viable; local storage shouldn't effect that. A MW of power produced in Southland may be consumed locally; or it may be consumed in Auckland; electrically from the point of view of the grid; these are the same place. Power will flow to where it is easiest; we direct the flow using various methods, but it is physical laws that drive the flow.

If we add 1GW of solar in Northland; it will be better than 1GW in Southland, simply because the Northland system will be smaller to get the same output.

If Southland has great wind resource; that is great and it should be developed; the whole country will benefit.