4 ms·

That's a solved problem today. China has a 12 GW 3,300 km (2,100 mi) HVDC line in use for a couple of years now. The loss is 2-3% per 1,000 km depending on the

That's a solved problem today. China has a 12 GW 3,300 km (2,100 mi) HVDC line in use for a couple of years now. The loss is 2-3% per 1,000 km depending on the voltage of the system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current

robertlagrant 4y ago
If you add in "rebuild all the transmission lines" to the cost then that would be good. Comparing some costs of renewables to total cost of nuclear is a fun pastime, but doesn't help the debate.
- ncmncm 4y ago
  Nukes also involve big transmission line projects, so it is a wash,.
  - robertlagrant 4y ago
    This seems to misunderstand the context. Previous poster was saying that with enough renewables hundreds or thousands of miles apart, there will always be enough power generation capacity. The response was around how the newest transmission technology isn't so lossy. But that would mean we'd have to replace all transmission lines. This doesn't apply to nuclear because it doesn't rely on generation potentially coming from 500 miles away to make it work.
  - ETH_start 4y ago
    Not nearly as much as requires to overcome the intermittency issue of renewable power sources.
    - onethought 4y ago
      To completely replace fossil fuel, you need a lot of nuclear plants and nuclear materials and transmission lines. For renewables you can handle a lot of the load near the consumption point and only need to transmit the “night load” which is usually much less.
      - ETH_start 4y ago
        I recommend you look at the estimates on how much storage and/or transmission lines are needed to go full renewable.
        ncmncm 4y ago
        People will "estimate" all kinds of things according to their favored assumptions. Most are worth the paper they are printed on.
        ETH_start 4y ago
        So if we can't trust statistics provided, how are we supposed to collectively discuss and reason about the options to determine the most economical one?
        onethought 4y ago
        How many nuclear plants are required to go fully nuclear? I haven’t seen those estimates at all which is interesting

robertlagrant 4y ago

If you add in "rebuild all the transmission lines" to the cost then that would be good. Comparing some costs of renewables to total cost of nuclear is a fun pastime, but doesn't help the debate.

ncmncm 4y ago
Nukes also involve big transmission line projects, so it is a wash,.
- robertlagrant 4y ago
  This seems to misunderstand the context. Previous poster was saying that with enough renewables hundreds or thousands of miles apart, there will always be enough power generation capacity. The response was around how the newest transmission technology isn't so lossy. But that would mean we'd have to replace all transmission lines. This doesn't apply to nuclear because it doesn't rely on generation potentially coming from 500 miles away to make it work.
- ETH_start 4y ago
  Not nearly as much as requires to overcome the intermittency issue of renewable power sources.
  - onethought 4y ago
    To completely replace fossil fuel, you need a lot of nuclear plants and nuclear materials and transmission lines. For renewables you can handle a lot of the load near the consumption point and only need to transmit the “night load” which is usually much less.
    - ETH_start 4y ago
      I recommend you look at the estimates on how much storage and/or transmission lines are needed to go full renewable.
      - ncmncm 4y ago
        People will "estimate" all kinds of things according to their favored assumptions. Most are worth the paper they are printed on.
        ETH_start 4y ago
        So if we can't trust statistics provided, how are we supposed to collectively discuss and reason about the options to determine the most economical one?
      - onethought 4y ago
        How many nuclear plants are required to go fully nuclear? I haven’t seen those estimates at all which is interesting