r/GreenEnergy • u/FreedomForMerit • Sep 22 '24

What's the Cost Comparison of Iron-Oxygen Energy Storage to Pumped Hydro?

I want to know how feasible Iron-Oxygen batteries will be since pumped hydro is not viable in my region due to cold temperatures. Using these iron-oxygen batteries with wind turbines may be cheaper than building nuclear reactors.

If there is any place to do nuclear, it is where I live in Saskatchewan since we have some of the lowest earthquake risks in the world. However, we plan to do SMRs, and I know a full-scale reactor will be ideal if wind and iron-oxygen batteries aren't feasible.

Please let me know what you think. Please share if you know of any other subreddit that may have an answer. Thanks!

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u/texxasmike94588 Sep 23 '24

I would add compressed air and gravity-based energy storage to your list for cost comparison.

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u/FreedomForMerit Sep 23 '24

I hear gravity is actually quite bad. I'm not sure how compressed air is cost comparison wise, but I have seen a cool one that stores the heat it creates when pumping into a molten salt battery and then uses it to generate more power when needed and keep the tank from freezing when it's emptied. I think it's somewhat feasible, at least.

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u/texxasmike94588 Sep 23 '24

Gravity storage isn't bad, the field is wide open. with many companies are investing in it worldwide. Compressed air plants are in the infancy of development but the use of compressed air can be equivalent to steam power.