3 ms·
> 50MW of power is powering roughly 50K homes for a year. This may seem pedantic, but the relevant measure is power when speaking of generators, like this reac
by fmihaila 9y ago
> 50MW of power is powering roughly 50K homes for a year.
This may seem pedantic, but the relevant measure is power when speaking of generators, like this reactor, and energy (in addition to power) when talking about storage, like say, the Tesla battery in Australia. So "...powering roughly 50K homes for a year" could just as well be for a second, a week, or a decade. Indicating a time interval is not meaningful in this context.
Power is the rate of energy consumption/generation (think water flow rate at the faucet), while energy is the total amount stored or consumed (how much you have in the bathtub). Mixing up power (W) with energy (Wh) is unfortunately a pervasive mistake in the media, too; we should strive to avoid it, lest we contribute to the confusion.
(Also, 1kW per house is probably too little; somewhere around 3kW is probably closer to reality.)
- maxerickson 9y agoAverage draw in the US is ~1200 watts. https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=97&t=3 https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=97&t=3 Canada is similar and then most other places are ½ or less.
- fmihaila 9y ago> Average draw in the US is ~1200 watts. Peak draw is more relevant, though, than average draw. My point was that in a hypothetical town with a single 50MW generator you cannot sustain 50k households, due to daily peak usage exceeding the average by a significant factor. Edit: on reading your reply, you're right.
- maxerickson 9y agoI think for nuclear the average draw probably is at least equally relevant. Reducing output costs money, so it isn't really going to follow the load down.
- Reason077 9y agoAs energy storage becomes more prevalent in the coming years, peak load becomes less relavent. Once you add storage, you really can supply 50k households (consuming an average 24kWh per day) from a 50MW supply.
- DennisP 9y agoBut then you have to ask which is more expensive, the storage or the excess capacity.
- stordoff 9y agoParticularly if demand is synchronised, meaning those peaks can be rather sharp: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_pickup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_pickup
- BurningFrog 9y agoYou could defend the "per year" number by pointing out that power needs for homes vary a lot by season, so averaging over a year is the best long term measure. But of course that means one of these reactors isn't the perfect plant to heat a city of 50k homes, since it would be underpowered part of the year and overpowered other times.