Even Energy Vault abandoned the moronic crane thing. It is very easy to show that it stores only a minuscule amount of energy, and does not operate at all anywhere there is wind.

Their hi-rise condo for blocks also stores only a tiny amount of energy, and is furthermore extremely expensive.

Likely they will pivot to something else as foolish, but might use their market cap to buy out something that works. Most likely they would then ruin that.

Anyplace where you mean to use gravity storage, and all the height you can muster is expensive stuff you have to build, will be a non-starter. Lots of other things can make a scheme impractical, but one is always enough.

Pumped hydro is practical because you need only a pipe between upper and lower reservoir, but mainly because in most current uses the lower and/or upper reservoir already existed, and often enough the turbines too.

The problem with any block system is that the weights are too expensive and the storage capacity doesn't scale very well. Concrete is already too expensive to be practical.

Then there is the engineering challenge of building a crane system.

It just doesn't get better.

OK then. I stand corrected.