4 ms·
Nuclear can work, it works really well for France, whose power costs about half of what UK power does. You can't just build onw reactor every ten years though,
by fyrn_ 3y ago
Nuclear can work, it works really well for France, whose power costs about half of what UK power does.
You can't just build onw reactor every ten years though, you have to build as many as you can as close to each other in time as you can, otherwise you'll drown in learning and fixed costs.
It does not compete well with north sea wind, on a cost per kilowatt basis, but
The UK will need some quanity of base load to help normalize varibility (this does not replace the increasing need for energy storage). Nuclear is perhaps better than natural gas for that?
- ViewTrick1002 3y agoNuclear is not working well for the French. Flamanville 3 is five times over budget and their fleet is nearing EOL. Expecting hundreds of billions in subsidies to again try make nuclear economical is lunacy in a world where renewables are undercutting every single energy source available. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamanville_Nuclear_Power_Plant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamanville_Nuclear_Power_Plan...
- kalessin 3y agoFLA3 is a first of a kind and is a bad example. Nuclear is working very well for France at the moment, we are back to high-availability and making a lot of money through exports.
- ViewTrick1002 3y agoIt is always someone else's fault when nuclear projects does not match expectations. I don't see much difference with Hinkley Point C started 10 years after Flamanville 3. Timelines and costs are about equal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinkley_Point_C_nuclear_power_station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinkley_Point_C_nuclear_power_...
- the_third_wave 3y ago> It is always someone else's fault when nuclear projects does not match expectations. ...as opposed to wind, solar, biofuel, tidal and other similar technologies failing at large scale projects?
- ViewTrick1002 3y agoSolar and wind are among the most predictable large scale projects. Almost certainly coming in on time and budget.
- Boatfaceing 3y ago[dead]
- whatevaa 3y agoI'm waiting on a small piece of solar park to be delivered and assigned to me and it is late by more than a year. When the planners are morons, anything can be late.
- the_third_wave 3y agoThere are plenty of examples of large-scale wind projects failing due to budget overruns, here's two of the more well-known examples: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jul/20/giant-windfarm-norfolk-coast-halted-spiralling-costs-vatttenfall https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jul/20/giant-windf... https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/01/rsted-cancels-two-us-offshore-windfarm-projects-at-33bn-cost https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/01/rsted-ca... Large-scale solar is less susceptible to these budget problems as the technology is more mature. The problems here mostly centre around power distribution and the unpredictable nature of (PV) solar power where production can go from close to zero to maximum in the span of a few seconds only to drop down to close to zero again after a few more seconds. Roof-top solar has become so popular that the distribution networks are getting overloaded on sunny days. In e.g. the Netherlands those who have roof-top solar power installations are starting to get billed for delivering power back to the network [1,2]. These problems can be solved by installing local energy storage - 'home batteries' - but these are as it stands too expensive to be economically feasible. I live in Sweden and have a 14.5 kW solar installation on a barn roof. When I installed this I signed a 5-year contract which enables us to sell power back to the network at market rates. I do not expect us to be able to sign a similar contract once this one runs out and will have to consider adding energy storage to the system - this is why I installed a hybrid inverter when I built the system. [1] https://www.centraalbeheer.nl/artikelen/betalen-voor-terugleveren-stroom-zonnepanelen https://www.centraalbeheer.nl/artikelen/betalen-voor-terugle... [2] https://www.energievergelijk.nl/nieuws/bij-deze-3-energieleveranciers-betaal-je-een-heffing-voor-zonnepanelen-in-2024 https://www.energievergelijk.nl/nieuws/bij-deze-3-energielev...
- Jochim 3y agoA significant part of the reason prices in the UK are so high is that our approach to spot pricing grossly overpays renewable generators when gas prices go up.