3 ms·
Confronting and solving the duck curve[1] and producing high duty-cycle electricity during non-sunlight hours is going to be a real challenge. We're at the poin
by ed25519FUUU 6y ago
Confronting and solving the duck curve[1] and producing high duty-cycle electricity during non-sunlight hours is going to be a real challenge. We're at the point now where states will often pay other states to take excess renewable electricity during peak hours. What's the point in cheaper when we're already effectively throwing away electricity?
I personally don't believe batteries are going to do it. The world needs too many batteries. They're an important part but they aren't going to cut it, especially not fast enough.
The kind of power we need starts with an "N".
1. https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/confronting-duck-curve-how-address-over-generation-solar-energy https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/confronting-duck-curve-...
- bryanlarsen 6y agoThe listed nuclear price is $155/MWh. But that's for baseload power, which can't replace batteries. What's needed is dispatchable or on-demand power, which costs about 3x as much for gas, I have no idea how much it inflates the price for nuclear, but the answer will be "a lot". Nuclear in 2020 doesn't make any sense. It's far cheaper to over-provision and use storage. We should have been building nuclear like crazy over the past 40 years. Then it could have followed a similar learning curve that renewables did and it'd still make sense today.
- ed25519FUUU 6y ago> The listed nuclear price is $155/MWh. Getting the price down for nuclear construction and maintenance is important. Keep in mind that these plants were built in the 80s or earlier. > Nuclear in 2020 doesn't make any sense. It's far cheaper to over-provision and use storage. What storage? That's the point. You can listen to what Bill Gates said about this last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xe3BWPsBTU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xe3BWPsBTU
- pjc50 6y agoThe Hinckley C price is about that, and it's late.
- alach11 6y agoThere's a lot of potential for "smart grid" solutions to help here. But for it to work, we need to get the incentives right. I'm a big fan of Griddy, an electricity provider in Texas that charges you 15-minute wholesale price for your power. If enough people are paying wholesale price, it creates incentives for smart appliances to time power consumption.
- r00fus 6y agoExcess? Storage is the way to go. Even skimming some edge off the top could allow arbitrage opportunities that could create a market by itself.