3 ms·

Critical commentary by a retired engineer and local resident: https://www.chieftain.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2024/01/14/piesac-conclusions-on-pueblo-ener

• PaulHoule 3y ago
  I would grant that an SMR is not a "bird in the hand" and neither is a fossil fuel plant + CCS but we've yet to see PV + batteries deployed in a big way. People are quoting the price from Case 25 in https://www.eia.gov/analysis/studies/powerplants/capitalcost/pdf/capital_cost_AEO2020.pdf https://www.eia.gov/analysis/studies/powerplants/capitalcost... as if it was gospel and as if that was a complete answer for the grid but the battery in Case 25 can store 1.5 hours of power which is great for peaking but surely wouldn't get the grid through the night. (Those numbers drive me crazy too because they should be dependent on geography as the same PV array will produce much more electricity in Nevada than it will in Maine) You've also got the fact that you get 2x-3x more energy out of a PV in summer than winter so you'll need to scale up the PV for the winter. It would take detailed monitoring to come up with numbers I'd believe but when I make back of the envelope estimates, PV + storage tends to come up just a little below current-generation nuclear (AP1000) in cost. Certainly not prohibitive but not the slam dunk renewable advocates think it is.