Thermal power plant translates to turbo sets (meaning a turbo generator, which is pretty much the most efficient electrical machine around at >99 %, coupled to

Thermal power plant translates to turbo sets (meaning a turbo generator, which is pretty much the most efficient electrical machine around at >99 %, coupled to a turbo steam turbine. Both run at 3000 rpm (a little more for 60 Hz instead of the more widely used 50 Hz) and are built to utilize the strength of all materials to a significant degree, their design and maintenance is really quite fascinating and requires quite a lot of know-how! - that is somewhat widely available nowadays, though) Non-thermal renewables (wind, water, PV) have zero overlap with those techniques. Wind turbines are slow runners, as are water turbines. PV has no moving parts. Only STE is, or can be, a kind of thermal plant, just with a different steam generator. Given the large unaccounted footprint ("Oh just look how low the carbon dioxide footprint is!") of PV production, STE is probably a rather good idea in comparison.