What is this percentage-wise? Every technology will have some waste, and obvious...

jopsen · 2025-10-15T11:00:57 1760526057

A quick search points to: https://tamarindo.global/insight/analysis/uk-storage-need-in...

Which claims curtailment is about 10%

That's not nothing, but could also just be the cost of doing business. If you stop building when curtailment occurs at peak wind, you'll have less cheap energy when wind isn't at peak.

andy99 · 2025-10-15T11:08:34 1760526514

pumped storage efficiency is 70-80%, so too for batteries. Probably not a completely fair comparison, but for example that appears to make curtailment more efficient than storing the power.

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=46756

jopsen · 2025-10-16T16:41:40 1760632900

Well, presumably electricity prices are relatively low when curtailment happens, and high when there is no curtailment.

So maybe storage can make some sense.

But before you go expand the grid or add batteries, it's probably fine to over build or curtail some more :)

Okay, I honestly don't know. Because this comes down to the numbers -- it's really just an economics exercise.

I guess my point is: scary absolute number of money spent on curtailment, makes a great headline, but doesn't mean anything.