First U.S. nuclear reactor built from scratch in decades enters commercial operation in Georgia::ATLANTA — A new reactor at a nuclear power plant in Georgia has entered commercial operation, becoming the first new American reactor built from scratch in decades.
In addition to battery designs that scale better than Li-ion (e.g. redox-flow batteries), I’ve heard some places are looking at options for “mechanical” storage: When you have energy surplus, pump water back into reservoirs, and generate hydropower when you have a deficit.
The amount of energy that can be stored in existing reservoirs is massive, so this could make hydropower function as the “buffer” for other renewable energy sources. I think the idea sounds promising, the major issue is that it’s less viable (or not viable) for places with flat topology.
This is a very promising approach I’ve heard of also. Places with reservoirs could benefit massively from super cheap energy.
In other places an alternative approach could be what we kinda do already. Nuclear or some other stable production as a foundation that is augmented by renewables. The foundation would guarantee that energy prices wouldn’t fluctuate too much, but we could still reap the benefits of cheap renewables when available.