Question:  How often do generation businesses store electricity in batteries until they can sell it into the grid? Are there other ways to store the electricity somewhere else until it can be sold, or is that outside the reality of how the physics of electricity works?

 

⚡ Why Storage Is Rare in Traditional Generation Businesses

1. Electricity Is Instantaneous by Nature

Electricity is not a “thing” that sits still—it must be used or lost the moment it’s generated. Unlike gas or water, you can’t “hold it in a tank” unless you convert it into another form, such as chemical (batteries), gravitational (pumped hydro), or thermal energy.

So for most natural gas plants, coal, nuclear, or even wind/solar, if you can’t immediately send it into the grid, you either ramp down or curtail production—you don’t “store” the electrons themselves.

Do Generation Businesses Use Batteries to Store Power?

Not commonly—but it’s growing.
Historically, traditional generation companies (especially fossil-fuel based) haven’t used batteries because:

• Batteries are expensive (measured in $/kWh of capacity),
• They only store energy—not fuel,
• Their business model was to produce and sell immediately into the market.

When batteries are used:

• Renewables (solar/wind) increasingly co-locate with grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS).
• Peaker plants may use batteries to cover startup lag.
• Hybrid projects (gas + solar + battery) are now being developed more often, especially in ERCOT and CAISO markets.

️ Alternatives to Battery Storage

1. Thermal or Mechanical Storage (Less Common Today)

• Pumped hydro: Pump water uphill and release it to generate electricity later.
• Compressed air energy storage (CAES): Compress air underground and release it to spin turbines.
• Molten salt: Used in some solar thermal plants.

These are not widely adopted by fossil fuel genset operators, but they are technically valid forms of “energy storage.”

⚙️ Realistic Options for Generation Businesses to Delay Sales

While you can’t store the electricity itself, you can:

1. Store the Fuel (e.g., Natural Gas)

You can delay turning fuel into electricity until market prices improve. Natural gas peakers do this: they stay offline until real-time pricing jumps.

2. Load-following or Partial Dispatch

Instead of storing power, you adjust generation output in real time based on price signals.

3. Behind-the-Meter Use (e.g., Bitcoin Mining)

When grid prices are low or negative, use the electricity internally (e.g., mining BTC). This isn’t “storage” but value conversion, turning electricity into digital assets until prices improve.

Summary: Physics vs. Market Strategy

Concept	Can You Store It?	Used by Generators?	Notes
Electricity (itself)	❌ No	❌ Rare	Must be used instantly
Fuel (e.g., gas)	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	Burn only when profitable
Battery energy (converted)	✅ Yes	⚠️ Rarely by fossil gens	Becoming more common with renewables
Behind-the-meter loads (e.g., mining)	➖ Not storage, but diversion	✅ Yes	Effective for arbitrage