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This is not true. Modern nuclear plants can load follow. The reason they usually don't is because fuel is such a small portion of the cost of operating a nucle
by i_am_proteus 5y ago
This is not true. Modern nuclear plants can load follow.
The reason they usually don't is because fuel is such a small portion of the cost of operating a nuclear plant. It's comparatively more efficient to run nuclear at 100% and idle fossil plants. But nuclear can absolutely load follow if there's a reason to, such as load sharing with renewables.
You will find further information on this web site: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Load-following_power_plant https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Load-following_power_plant
- ncmncm 5y agoIf they load follow, their cost per joule produced becomes even worse than it already is. Anyway there will be no need to load follow, because load producing H2 and NH3, and pumping hydro and compressed air, can follow price, instead.
- _ph_ 5y agoOnly in a very limited way. As we move forward, we are quickly reaching the point where for more and more time, renewables can carry the whole grid load alone. Nuclear power plants would have to be switched off in those times. And while they can follow the load over a large part of their power output, they can't be swithed off and on again. So as the transition to renewables progresses, nuclear power plants are less and less a good counterpart. Gas plants however are. They are very quick and switching them off is possible and saves precious fuel. As the transition progresses, they should use less and less fuel as they are used more rareley and the fuel could be switched to renewable sources (bio, power2gas). The pre-war plans of the current German government included extending the gas infrastructure but with a clear ability for new installations to be also able to use H2 as it becomes available.