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Nuclear and gas fit into different niches. Nuclear makes sense up to the point where installed nuclear capacity is sufficiently lower than the lowest demand on
by scythe 8y ago
Nuclear and gas fit into different niches. Nuclear makes sense up to the point where installed nuclear capacity is sufficiently lower than the lowest demand on the grid, eg. 4 AM demand. Gas fills in for renewables when available solar/wind is less than demand at high-usage times, eg. 10 PM demand. If energy storage is expensive, it makes sense to have both.
- Retric 8y agoThe issue is Wind is vastly cheaper than nuclear power, but makes demand less predictable. As you add more wind power you get a random unmet demand and oversupply, but are paying less than half as much per kWh. Nuclear can fill in the gaps assuming you design for it, but at extreme cost.