3 ms·

Nevertheless, more base load means less peak plant use.

• Xylakant 5y ago
  That’s not how base load/peak load works. You can’t just increase the base power output - that would lead to too much more electricity in the network, you need to balance the energy provided with the energy used. That’s exactly why you need peak load plants that can follow the load curve quickly. Gas turbines and water turbines can do that, thermal power plants cannot. They’re too sluggish.
  • someguydave 5y ago
    I find it quite likely that running higher base load will result in electricity exportable to other European nations who are also trying to quite gas. The general thrust of your argument seems to be “nuclear power will not help shed Russian gas even a little bit” which seems ludicrous.
    • Xylakant 5y ago
      If your argument would hold true, that load would already be taken by coal power plants which fill the same role. Gas peaker plants are substantially more expensive to operate per kWh of electricity produced than base load plants. They fill an important niche, but do not provide substantial continuous output. Nuclear replaces coal, coal replaces nuclear. Renewables plus gas (or storage) replace both. There are other niches where gas is used to produce electricity, for example we have a gas micro power plant that produces both electricity and heat for the apartment complexes on the local compound. This too, cannot be replaced by a nuclear plant.