richfool wrote:My main concern, as a holder of GRID is if an alternative to battery storage suddenly materialises, or a development meaning that storage is no longer necessary. That could then could demolish the SP. (That would also apply to GSF).
I note GRID's annual management charge is: 1.0% and the ongoing charge: 2.15%, which seems high.
There are plenty of alternative ways of storing energy, but batteries are really difficult to beat in terms of efficiency and ease of installation. Anything which involves turning electricity in to something and then converting it back is at an automatic disadvantage and its difficult to concoct a scheme which is easier to execute than plonking a few containers down in a field and wiring them.
I'd also imagine battery costs are going to fall quite dramatically in the coming years, which is good for battery vs. but means that GRID's stiffest competition is likely to come from other batteries whether they are in shipping containers in a field in Leicestershire, distributed across a number of industrial parks and coach parks or distributed across the garage walls of thousands of end users. That's not to say that there won't be other systems in the mix, or that the balance of battery storage won't move away from large purpose built grid supporting installations but I don't worry about waking up tomorrow and finding that the need they fill is suddenly obsolete or 'solved' by a new kryptonite based storage device and in the short to medium term increasing decarbonisation seems likely to lead to an increase in demand.