4 ms·
I'm definitely under the impression that that's the case for nuclear (which is famously bad at reacting to changing demand), but I would have thought that even
by gpm 3y ago
I'm definitely under the impression that that's the case for nuclear (which is famously bad at reacting to changing demand), but I would have thought that even slow gas plants could turn off for hours profitably. Could be wrong.
- remus 3y agoPlants will typically have a normal operating range (where the minimum is >0). A gas plant can respond fairly quickly within that range, but a cold start requires more time.
- ssl-3 3y agoSo they're paying money (or at least, producing little income) to keep the plants working when it is not needed, so that things are ready to go when it inevitably becomes possible for the plants to spool up and make money when their need increases. Makes sense.
- remus 3y agoExactly. They can do this (i.e. keep producing power when the spot price is negative) because a plant that can respond rapidly to increased demand can charge a large premium in times of need.
- bombcar 3y agoIt could be that solar or wind can “shut down” much faster than offline natural gas can be brought online, so it’s better to run them at some sort of “idling” power than to turn them off entirely.
- giantrobot 3y agoKeep in mind it's not just generation that needs to shut down but also re-routing that power. Transmission lines and substations have certain capacities. Shutting down a gas plant for a few hours can mean transferring power from elsewhere in the grid over lines not really designed for that load. It could be easier/cheaper to keep the plant running than to build out higher capacity transmission to power that part of the grid.