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Germany is exiting both nuclear and coal. In the time from 2010 to 2022 where 14/17 of nuclear plants were shut down generation from coal was reduced from 263 T
by uecker 4y ago
Germany is exiting both nuclear and coal. In the time from 2010 to 2022 where 14/17 of nuclear plants were shut down generation from coal was reduced from 263 TWh per year to 181 TWh. Renewables increased from 105 TWh to 254 TWh. I also would have preferred to leave the nuclear plants running longer and exit coal faster, but in the overall scheme of things it does not matter too much. Nuclear is basically irrelevant. It is too expensive and slow to build. In reality, renewables will take over everything very quickly.
Gas and coal imports from Russia stopped completely. But guess what still depends on Russia: The nuclear industry in Europe and the US.
- illiarian 4y agoToo bad numbers don't work when it's a quiet night, and you have to burn gas, caol, and biomass to make up for those nuclear reactors you've shut down: https://twitter.com/energybants/status/1647799729734971396 https://twitter.com/energybants/status/1647799729734971396
- uecker 4y agoSorry, I am not interested what a nuclear shill posts on twitter. Here is the source for my numbers (which are the official ones). Sorry, in German but I assume you can guess the labels: https://ag-energiebilanzen.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/STRERZ22A11_Abg_0223.pdf https://ag-energiebilanzen.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/STR...
- illiarian 4y agoAgain: total numbers mean absolutely nothing on a night when there's zero production from renewables. That "shill" is showing data. Just the fact that you don't like this data doesn't make it invalid. Right now it's night in Germany, and even though the wind is blowing, it's only at 40% generation. And look, there's coal, supplying 22%, and gas supplying another 9%: https://imgur.com/a/3bYudyd https://imgur.com/a/3bYudyd
- uecker 4y agoSo what? You are complaining that Germany still uses coal. This is a fair complaint (and one should complain about this), but Germany is in the middle of the transition to renewables and that in the middle of the transition you still use coal does not tell you that the transition is not working. In fact, there are plenty of simulation studies which show that it will work. We also know that nuclear will have no meaningful impact in fighting climate change because it is too expensive and too slow to build.
- illiarian 4y ago> but Germany is in the middle of the transition to renewables and that in the middle of the transition you still use coal does not tell you that the transition is not working. No, it shows that people believe in bullshit and actively hurt their own clean power generation capabilities due to decades of FUD. And yes, however many renewables you build, you still have no answer for intermittent power generation. > We also know that nuclear will have no meaningful impact in fighting climate change because it is too expensive and too slow to build. Strange how some countries build them relatively fast (China can builds 1 reactor in 6 years, building several reactors in parallel, see Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant) while e.g. in Europe after three decades of FUD, scremongering and underinvestment, we not only believe they can't be built fast enough, but can't build them either.
- k8wk1 4y agoAlso, the reason this is only possible at all is that Germany uses the rest of Europe as a giant battery to manage the non-dispatchability of renewables. The import-export balance often changes by as much as one third of Germany consumption in 12 hours [1]. The electricity prices are also becoming zero[2] in Germany during parts of the day, which is a great outcome only on the surface. As this progresses, the consequence will be that renewable electricity producers aren't getting paid during their prime generating hours. This means even more subsidies will be required going forward to bring additional production. It will become more apparent once the reserve of easily dispatchable electricity sources is fully tapped to balance renewables across Europe. We will see very high prices during mornings and evenings and whenever it's cold and dark. The fossil fuel plants that are turned on during these periods will need to earn enough to address the additional wear due to quick power cycling and to keep being maintained for the rest of the time when they are unused. [1] - https://www.smard.de/page/en/marktdaten/78?marketDataAttributes=%7B%22resolution%22:%22hour%22,%22from%22:1680904800000,%22to%22:1682114399999,%22moduleIds%22:%5B31004963,31004739,31004883,31004743,31004887,31004736,31004880,31004744,31004888,31004738,31004882,31004742,31004886,31004740,31004884,31004737,31004881,31004741,31004885,31004988,31004990,31004992,31004994%5D,%22selectedCategory%22:null,%22activeChart%22:true,%22style%22:%22color%22,%22categoriesModuleOrder%22:%7B%7D,%22region%22:%22DE%22%7D https://www.smard.de/page/en/marktdaten/78?marketDataAttribu... [2] - https://www.nordpoolgroup.com/en/Market-data1/Dayahead/Area-Prices/de-lu/hourly/?view=table https://www.nordpoolgroup.com/en/Market-data1/Dayahead/Area-...
- illiarian 4y ago> dispatchable electricity sources is fully tapped to balance renewables across Europe. We will see very high prices during mornings and evenings and whenever it's cold and dark It's already a problem in Sweden. It exports electricity to Germany when demand is high... which leaves nothing to Sweden, and the prices skyrocket. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-12/swedish-minister-defends-power-exports-as-households-suffer https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-12/swedish-m...
- uecker 4y agoThe prices in summer were so high mainly because half of France nuclear plants were offline. Look, even the article you cite mentions this: "The largest Nordic nation became the region’s top exporter in the first half after France suffered problems at its aging reactors"