3 ms·
Unlike nuclear, which is too expensive when you don't overbuild it, and becomes simply stupidly expensive if you contemplate overbuilding it. Overbuilding nucl
by ZeroGravitas 3y ago
Unlike nuclear, which is too expensive when you don't overbuild it, and becomes simply stupidly expensive if you contemplate overbuilding it.
Overbuilding nuclear is so preposterous that nuclear fans just pretend you magically don't need to, to prevent their fragile dream from being crushed by reality, and let them continue to steer at renewables and all the problems they face as every nation on earth builds then out at massive scale.
- kragen 3y agoyou don't need to overbuild nuclear; nuclear plants commonly have a capacity factor of over 80%
- ViewTrick1002 3y agoThe grid has wild differences between day and night. Who cares if you can run at 100% when no one wants the power because everyone is asleep?
- kragen 3y agonegative lmps have long been a result of baseload plants exceeding demand at night; widespread deployment of pv has turned that on its head, because now it's midafternoon when prices go negative, but also in a sense exacerbated it. consequently, expect rapid development of grid-scale storage: pumped hydro and massive li-ion, of course, but also maybe centrifugal trompe isothermal air compression, sodium-ion batteries, or high-temperature liquid-metal batteries
- Kon5ole 3y agoFinland recently lost 14% of it's national electricity generation for days due to a turbine failure. This is of course a huge problem. Having 14% of the nations electricity transported from just 1 location is another problem all by itself even when it works. Last year half the reactors in France were offline at one point: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/15/business/nuclear-power-france.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/15/business/nuclear-power-fr... I don't think nuclear should be overprovisioned, but it illustrates that nuclear also needs a plan B just like wind and solar does. IMO Plan B should be synthesized gas that has been generated when electricity was cheap due to overproduction or directly from cheap sources such as Solar.
- mpweiher 3y agoWhy Finland built a single huge reactor, so single point of failure, is a bit puzzling. France has not invested in its nuclear fleet in ages, and deferred maintenance during COVID, so a lot more plants were in maintenance than usual. Fortunately they planned this for the summer, when energy consumption is low and renewable output high. Unfortunately the inspections found more than they were expecting, as inspections are wont to do at times. Otherwise you wouldn't need them. Fortunately, there's a European electricity grid, and so for one year out of the last thirty or forty, France was a net importer of electricity rather than an exporter. In 2023 they're an exporter again. And they are now in the process of correcting the underinvestment.
- Tommstein 3y ago> Unlike nuclear, which is too expensive when you don't overbuild it, and becomes simply stupidly expensive if you contemplate overbuilding it. > Overbuilding nuclear is so preposterous that nuclear fans just pretend you magically don't need to, to prevent their fragile dream from being crushed by reality, and let them continue to steer at renewables and all the problems they face as every nation on earth builds then out at massive scale. Why would you need to overbuild nuclear power plants? Other than planning for future growth, but I don't think that's what people generally mean by overbuilding, it's more like avoiding "it's been cloudy/windless for a few weeks now so back to the 1800s it is."
- ViewTrick1002 3y agoThe grid has wild differences between day and night. Who cares if you can run at 100% when no one wants the power because everyone is asleep?
- Tommstein 3y agoThere was no mention of night, but thanks for pointing out yet another reason why solar needs to be overbuilt while nuclear doesn't.