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>> Any gas plant still being operational would be running all the time and be part of the base supply just like it is today. >Not if its purpose is to supply p
by Kon5ole 3y ago
>> Any gas plant still being operational would be running all the time and be part of the base supply just like it is today.
>Not if its purpose is to supply power during periods of low generation.
The purpose is to convert intermittent energy to stable energy.
Whenever there is a surplus, it is balanced by producing gas. Whenever there is a shortage, you burn the gas.
The idea is to reach a balance, where we produce the same amount of gas that we need during a year. The storage only needs to cover a worst-case scenario of cloudy days with no wind, which is far less than many countries are already storing today.
>The real problem here is that if you did a straight free market design, the result would be that power is very cheap 95% of the time and then costs multiple dollars per kWh during extended periods of low generation.
No, since the energy in this scenario is stable 24/7 and for as many days as we are able to store gas, the price will be stable as well. And it is this kind of solution (including the cost of building the storage) that has recently been estimated to be cheaper than any other source of stable energy, even fossil fuels. Certainly Nuclear, which is estimated to be more expensive than any previous estimates have indicated.
The important thing to keep in mind is that once this storage infrastructure has been built, it will be a gift for future generations comparable to hydropower. the cost of the dam was paid by our ancestors and we've enjoyed cheap energy for most of our lives from some of them. Gas production and storage has the same property. It is an investment that will pay dividends for centuries.
Nuclear has the opposite property - we are today paying for plants that are no longer producing any energy, and we still have no end in sight for that cost. I can't see that as anything but a very poor gift to our children and a very bad investment at this point in time.