How much storage is needed in a solar and wind powered grid?  

RNE has a post on the role of energy storage in transforming Australian energy generation to 100% renewables by 2050 - How much storage is needed in solar and wind powered grid?.

The CSIRO and Australia’s electricity network owners this week released a study that showed the best to deliver reliability, bring down costs and lower emissions in Australia was through a national grid powered almost exclusively by wind and solar. The cost savings over business-as-usual – a grid powered primarily by coal and gas – were significant, with consumer savings of between one-quarter and one-third of their bills.

But it does beg a question: If the grid is powered by “variable renewable energy” (or VRE), such as wind and solar, what will happen when, as the detractors say, the wind don’t blow and the sun don’t shine? The answer, of course, is storage. But not nearly as much as the cynics suggest. And at not nearly the cost.