> Pumped storage hydro

It's a pipedream. Yes it's cheap and efficient, but it requires the geography and the will to destroy a local ecosystem.

BESS is what will ultimately win. It's pretty energy dense and it can be deployed on pretty much any junk land location. The only fight you'll have is with the neighbors who don't like it.

My power company, Idaho power, is deploying a 200MWh BESS on a slice of land they've owned for decades near one of their substations. The hardest part has been the permitting (which is now done).