Let's take it as a given that Trainsmission sounds crazy. You think it sounds crazy. I thought it sounded crazy the first time I heard it. The headline in the Colorado Sun says it is crazy.
So why isn't this crazy?
coloradosun.com/2024/12/05/c...
So why isn't this crazy?
coloradosun.com/2024/12/05/c...
Charge train-size batteries with clean energy, roll them to power Denver: SunTrain says it’s the “crazy" future
SunTrain wants to use Colorado to demonstrate its batteries-on-train-cars system for transmitting renewable energy.
coloradosun.com
December 10, 2024 at 9:01 PM
Let's take it as a given that Trainsmission sounds crazy. You think it sounds crazy. I thought it sounded crazy the first time I heard it. The headline in the Colorado Sun says it is crazy.
So why isn't this crazy?
coloradosun.com/2024/12/05/c...
So why isn't this crazy?
coloradosun.com/2024/12/05/c...
Why is it fun to think through replacing SunZia with #Trainsmission?
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Because the approved map for the SunZia wire is within a few miles of a heavy freight line over the entire route.
patternenergy.com/wp-content/u...
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Because the approved map for the SunZia wire is within a few miles of a heavy freight line over the entire route.
patternenergy.com/wp-content/u...
December 10, 2024 at 9:06 PM
Why is it fun to think through replacing SunZia with #Trainsmission?
🔌💡
Because the approved map for the SunZia wire is within a few miles of a heavy freight line over the entire route.
patternenergy.com/wp-content/u...
🔌💡
Because the approved map for the SunZia wire is within a few miles of a heavy freight line over the entire route.
patternenergy.com/wp-content/u...
This piece contains the story of what happened when the CEO of Pattern Energy, the developer of SunZia, heard about SunTrain and #Trainsmission...
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Sun Machines | The Economist | 20 June, 2024
www.economist.com/interactive/...
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Sun Machines | The Economist | 20 June, 2024
www.economist.com/interactive/...
Sun Machines
Solar, an energy source that gets cheaper and cheaper, is going to be huge
www.economist.com
December 10, 2024 at 10:04 PM
This piece contains the story of what happened when the CEO of Pattern Energy, the developer of SunZia, heard about SunTrain and #Trainsmission...
🔌💡
Sun Machines | The Economist | 20 June, 2024
www.economist.com/interactive/...
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Sun Machines | The Economist | 20 June, 2024
www.economist.com/interactive/...
That Xcel is so interested confirms that the most important metrics for evaluating the utility of #Trainsmission are capital efficiency and timeliness; moving energy in batteries via existing freight rail lines provides electrons as soon as the railroad cars are constructed and rolling.
December 10, 2024 at 9:01 PM
That Xcel is so interested confirms that the most important metrics for evaluating the utility of #Trainsmission are capital efficiency and timeliness; moving energy in batteries via existing freight rail lines provides electrons as soon as the railroad cars are constructed and rolling.
Love this idea for clean energy 'trainsmission.' It feels practical, plus trains!🌞🚂 SunTrain CTO Christopher Smith told me they plan to have their trains run on clean electricity in the future. www.kunc.org/podcast/inth...
www.kunc.org
March 4, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Love this idea for clean energy 'trainsmission.' It feels practical, plus trains!🌞🚂 SunTrain CTO Christopher Smith told me they plan to have their trains run on clean electricity in the future. www.kunc.org/podcast/inth...
Here's a nice column in the @financialtimes.com on our portfolio company SunTrain and #Trainsmission, shipping electrons in batteries by rail.
We can connect generation and customers 5-10 years faster by rail than by building new wires.
Let's roll.
#energysky
www.ft.com/content/e7ba...
We can connect generation and customers 5-10 years faster by rail than by building new wires.
Let's roll.
#energysky
www.ft.com/content/e7ba...
How to ship sunlight
[FREE TO READ] Repurposing railways for solar energy transportation is one way to address the energy challenge
www.ft.com
May 30, 2024 at 6:23 PM
Here's a nice column in the @financialtimes.com on our portfolio company SunTrain and #Trainsmission, shipping electrons in batteries by rail.
We can connect generation and customers 5-10 years faster by rail than by building new wires.
Let's roll.
#energysky
www.ft.com/content/e7ba...
We can connect generation and customers 5-10 years faster by rail than by building new wires.
Let's roll.
#energysky
www.ft.com/content/e7ba...
The question in evaluating the economics is *not* how #Trainsmission compares to a hypothetical transmission line built at some date in the future, after navigating all the permitting and right-of-way obstacles that impede construction, which can take a decade or longer.
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December 10, 2024 at 9:01 PM
The question in evaluating the economics is *not* how #Trainsmission compares to a hypothetical transmission line built at some date in the future, after navigating all the permitting and right-of-way obstacles that impede construction, which can take a decade or longer.
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Now, as a gedankenexperiment:
Straight up replacing the SunZia transmission line with Trainsmission would require ~24 150-car unit trains, at 3 GWh each.
That's ~$10B in capex. That's a lot. Probably 2-3X the capex required for the transmission line (if you don't include the cost of delays).
Straight up replacing the SunZia transmission line with Trainsmission would require ~24 150-car unit trains, at 3 GWh each.
That's ~$10B in capex. That's a lot. Probably 2-3X the capex required for the transmission line (if you don't include the cost of delays).
December 10, 2024 at 9:06 PM
Now, as a gedankenexperiment:
Straight up replacing the SunZia transmission line with Trainsmission would require ~24 150-car unit trains, at 3 GWh each.
That's ~$10B in capex. That's a lot. Probably 2-3X the capex required for the transmission line (if you don't include the cost of delays).
Straight up replacing the SunZia transmission line with Trainsmission would require ~24 150-car unit trains, at 3 GWh each.
That's ~$10B in capex. That's a lot. Probably 2-3X the capex required for the transmission line (if you don't include the cost of delays).
"Trainsmission" (building train cars full of batteries and then transporting electricity with them BY RAIL) might be one of the dumbest ideas I've ever seen.
...but, in a regularity and permitting environment where it's damn near impossible to build anything, it makes some sense.
...but, in a regularity and permitting environment where it's damn near impossible to build anything, it makes some sense.
People will literally drive electricity on a train instead of building transmission lines
(I haven't looked into the economics/physics of this at all, but its a great example of how policy matters for energy systems)
(I haven't looked into the economics/physics of this at all, but its a great example of how policy matters for energy systems)
Last week SunTrain announced a project with Xcel Energy to transport electricity stored on railcars into the Cherokee Generating Station in Denver.
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Today I published a piece on why "Trainsmission" makes sense from a capital efficiency perspective.
🧵
www.planetarytech.earth/posts/suntra...
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Today I published a piece on why "Trainsmission" makes sense from a capital efficiency perspective.
🧵
www.planetarytech.earth/posts/suntra...
November 10, 2025 at 8:39 PM
"Trainsmission" (building train cars full of batteries and then transporting electricity with them BY RAIL) might be one of the dumbest ideas I've ever seen.
...but, in a regularity and permitting environment where it's damn near impossible to build anything, it makes some sense.
...but, in a regularity and permitting environment where it's damn near impossible to build anything, it makes some sense.
“Trainsmission” makes battery storage mobile
If SunTrain gets a Federal grant, Colorado may be the first to try out this idea. Create a train of batteries and move them by rail, preferably with an electrically powered engine, to where they’re needed. SunTrain says each one of its train car-sized…
If SunTrain gets a Federal grant, Colorado may be the first to try out this idea. Create a train of batteries and move them by rail, preferably with an electrically powered engine, to where they’re needed. SunTrain says each one of its train car-sized…
“Trainsmission” makes battery storage mobile
If SunTrain gets a Federal grant, Colorado may be the first to try out this idea. Create a train of batteries and move them by rail, preferably with an electrically powered engine, to where they’re needed. SunTrain says each one of its train car-sized iron phosphate batteries holds enough power for 20,000 homes for an hour, or 1,000 homes for a full day.
darcyhitchcock.wordpress.com
January 4, 2025 at 12:51 PM
“Trainsmission” makes battery storage mobile
If SunTrain gets a Federal grant, Colorado may be the first to try out this idea. Create a train of batteries and move them by rail, preferably with an electrically powered engine, to where they’re needed. SunTrain says each one of its train car-sized…
If SunTrain gets a Federal grant, Colorado may be the first to try out this idea. Create a train of batteries and move them by rail, preferably with an electrically powered engine, to where they’re needed. SunTrain says each one of its train car-sized…
Depending on the project (and the details are important), #Trainsmission can be cheaper than building new wires.
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Xcel has already made the calculation and found that, relative to new transmission, “the capital costs [of Trainsmission] are small by comparison”.
coloradosun.com/2024/12/05/c...
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Xcel has already made the calculation and found that, relative to new transmission, “the capital costs [of Trainsmission] are small by comparison”.
coloradosun.com/2024/12/05/c...
Charge train-size batteries with clean energy, roll them to power Denver: SunTrain says it’s the “crazy" future
SunTrain wants to use Colorado to demonstrate its batteries-on-train-cars system for transmitting renewable energy.
coloradosun.com
December 10, 2024 at 9:01 PM
Depending on the project (and the details are important), #Trainsmission can be cheaper than building new wires.
🔌💡
Xcel has already made the calculation and found that, relative to new transmission, “the capital costs [of Trainsmission] are small by comparison”.
coloradosun.com/2024/12/05/c...
🔌💡
Xcel has already made the calculation and found that, relative to new transmission, “the capital costs [of Trainsmission] are small by comparison”.
coloradosun.com/2024/12/05/c...
Curiosa la idea de uso baterías móviles vía tren que nos expone el gran @ignacio1956.bsky.social en este artículo, un sun train que además hace de sistema de "trainsmission" (Ignacio, aquí lo podríamos traducir como trensporte?😜)
material-electrico.cdecomunicacion.es/opinion/igna...
material-electrico.cdecomunicacion.es/opinion/igna...
Es la hora del almacenamiento energético con baterías - Material Eléctrico - CdeComunicacion.es
Los mercados de almacenamiento mediante baterías se han desarrollado significativamente, especialmente tras la pandemia.
material-electrico.cdecomunicacion.es
February 13, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Curiosa la idea de uso baterías móviles vía tren que nos expone el gran @ignacio1956.bsky.social en este artículo, un sun train que además hace de sistema de "trainsmission" (Ignacio, aquí lo podríamos traducir como trensporte?😜)
material-electrico.cdecomunicacion.es/opinion/igna...
material-electrico.cdecomunicacion.es/opinion/igna...
Last week SunTrain announced a project with Xcel Energy to transport electricity stored on railcars into the Cherokee Generating Station in Denver.
🔌💡
Today I published a piece on why "Trainsmission" makes sense from a capital efficiency perspective.
🧵
www.planetarytech.earth/posts/suntra...
🔌💡
Today I published a piece on why "Trainsmission" makes sense from a capital efficiency perspective.
🧵
www.planetarytech.earth/posts/suntra...
Planetary Technologies is an investment fund with the mission to find scalable technologies that can help the world mature beyond fossil fuels at the pace necessary to avoid unsustainable warming. Pla...
Summary SunTrain is developing technology that enables point-to-point electricity distribution as a service using existing Class 1 rail infrastructure, a capability that the company calls Trai...
www.planetarytech.earth
December 10, 2024 at 9:01 PM
Last week SunTrain announced a project with Xcel Energy to transport electricity stored on railcars into the Cherokee Generating Station in Denver.
🔌💡
Today I published a piece on why "Trainsmission" makes sense from a capital efficiency perspective.
🧵
www.planetarytech.earth/posts/suntra...
🔌💡
Today I published a piece on why "Trainsmission" makes sense from a capital efficiency perspective.
🧵
www.planetarytech.earth/posts/suntra...
I could definitely see trainsmission as a good interim solution allowing for new generating facilities to start producing while the new electrical infrastructure is being permitted and built if the rail infrastructure is already available for it.
December 10, 2024 at 9:15 PM
I could definitely see trainsmission as a good interim solution allowing for new generating facilities to start producing while the new electrical infrastructure is being permitted and built if the rail infrastructure is already available for it.
Does it make sense under any condition to go with Trainsmission rather than the SunZia wire?
The trains could have been rolling years ago, at any fraction of 3 GW. Still could today.
The power only flows through the wire when it is complete, delaying any revenue until commissioning.
The trains could have been rolling years ago, at any fraction of 3 GW. Still could today.
The power only flows through the wire when it is complete, delaying any revenue until commissioning.
December 10, 2024 at 9:06 PM
Does it make sense under any condition to go with Trainsmission rather than the SunZia wire?
The trains could have been rolling years ago, at any fraction of 3 GW. Still could today.
The power only flows through the wire when it is complete, delaying any revenue until commissioning.
The trains could have been rolling years ago, at any fraction of 3 GW. Still could today.
The power only flows through the wire when it is complete, delaying any revenue until commissioning.
I have typed #Trainsmission so many times in the past two weeks that muscle memory goes there first even when I mean to type transmission.
Portent?
Portent?
A thread on #Trainsmission, cost, capital efficiency, and a comparison with transmission wires.
The best time to deliver electrons is today.
#energysky
@eaterofsun.bsky.social @kellyhereid.bsky.social @volts.wtf @billmckibben.bsky.social
The best time to deliver electrons is today.
#energysky
@eaterofsun.bsky.social @kellyhereid.bsky.social @volts.wtf @billmckibben.bsky.social
Last week SunTrain announced a project with Xcel Energy to transport electricity stored on railcars into the Cherokee Generating Station in Denver.
🔌💡
Today I published a piece on why "Trainsmission" makes sense from a capital efficiency perspective.
🧵
www.planetarytech.earth/posts/suntra...
🔌💡
Today I published a piece on why "Trainsmission" makes sense from a capital efficiency perspective.
🧵
www.planetarytech.earth/posts/suntra...
December 11, 2024 at 6:38 AM
I have typed #Trainsmission so many times in the past two weeks that muscle memory goes there first even when I mean to type transmission.
Portent?
Portent?
While we build transmission maybe we should do a decade of trainsmission
www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...
www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...
December 20, 2025 at 6:21 PM
While we build transmission maybe we should do a decade of trainsmission
www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...
www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...
So while #Trainsmission may not be a replacement for the future fixed 3 GW SunZia line, trains can be dispatched anywhere the power is needed, as demand shifts, and as prices shift.
Rail goes everywhere. Already.
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More perspective here in the full PDF:
www.planetarytech.earth/posts/suntra...
Rail goes everywhere. Already.
🔌💡
More perspective here in the full PDF:
www.planetarytech.earth/posts/suntra...
Planetary Technologies is an investment fund with the mission to find scalable technologies that can help the world mature beyond fossil fuels at the pace necessary to avoid unsustainable warming. Pla...
Summary SunTrain is developing technology that enables point-to-point electricity distribution as a service using existing Class 1 rail infrastructure, a capability that the company calls Trai...
www.planetarytech.earth
December 10, 2024 at 9:06 PM
So while #Trainsmission may not be a replacement for the future fixed 3 GW SunZia line, trains can be dispatched anywhere the power is needed, as demand shifts, and as prices shift.
Rail goes everywhere. Already.
🔌💡
More perspective here in the full PDF:
www.planetarytech.earth/posts/suntra...
Rail goes everywhere. Already.
🔌💡
More perspective here in the full PDF:
www.planetarytech.earth/posts/suntra...
Finally, as an extreme case, which we are not working on, but which is fun to think about, consider #Trainsmission in the context of the 19+ year saga of the 3 GW SunZia project.
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“The Bitter 17-Year Saga to Build a Power Line Critical to US Climate Action” www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
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“The Bitter 17-Year Saga to Build a Power Line Critical to US Climate Action” www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
The Bitter 17-Year Saga to Build a Power Line Critical to US Climate Action
The planned SunZia 500-mile transmission line would carry wind power across the Southwest. The fights over approval are just getting started.
www.bloomberg.com
December 10, 2024 at 9:06 PM
Finally, as an extreme case, which we are not working on, but which is fun to think about, consider #Trainsmission in the context of the 19+ year saga of the 3 GW SunZia project.
🔌💡
“The Bitter 17-Year Saga to Build a Power Line Critical to US Climate Action” www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
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“The Bitter 17-Year Saga to Build a Power Line Critical to US Climate Action” www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
The inherent flexibility of #Trainsmission facilitates rethinking electricity distribution. Large, mobile batteries simultaneously solve the problems of distribution and storage while enabling time- and place-shifting of electricity supply. 🔌💡
December 10, 2024 at 9:01 PM
The inherent flexibility of #Trainsmission facilitates rethinking electricity distribution. Large, mobile batteries simultaneously solve the problems of distribution and storage while enabling time- and place-shifting of electricity supply. 🔌💡
I just kind of wish that they would not call it trainsmission though.
I did talk with one of the engineers with one of their investors about my idea about buying up oil tankers and turning them into big batteries to ship voltage around though so that's cool.
I did talk with one of the engineers with one of their investors about my idea about buying up oil tankers and turning them into big batteries to ship voltage around though so that's cool.
December 12, 2024 at 1:43 AM
I just kind of wish that they would not call it trainsmission though.
I did talk with one of the engineers with one of their investors about my idea about buying up oil tankers and turning them into big batteries to ship voltage around though so that's cool.
I did talk with one of the engineers with one of their investors about my idea about buying up oil tankers and turning them into big batteries to ship voltage around though so that's cool.
Transmission wires are expensive fixed assets.
#Trainsmission is scalable in time and space.
And heavy freight lines radiate from the SunZia wind farm, just NE of Albuquerque to all corners of North America.
That opens up more markets as destinations.
www.openrailwaymap.org?style=standa...
#Trainsmission is scalable in time and space.
And heavy freight lines radiate from the SunZia wind farm, just NE of Albuquerque to all corners of North America.
That opens up more markets as destinations.
www.openrailwaymap.org?style=standa...
December 10, 2024 at 9:06 PM
Transmission wires are expensive fixed assets.
#Trainsmission is scalable in time and space.
And heavy freight lines radiate from the SunZia wind farm, just NE of Albuquerque to all corners of North America.
That opens up more markets as destinations.
www.openrailwaymap.org?style=standa...
#Trainsmission is scalable in time and space.
And heavy freight lines radiate from the SunZia wind farm, just NE of Albuquerque to all corners of North America.
That opens up more markets as destinations.
www.openrailwaymap.org?style=standa...
"Trainsmission" love it
December 5, 2024 at 4:15 PM
"Trainsmission" love it