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Sure, but desalination is very power hungry. In Oman they managed to get a desalination plant to be 1/3 directly covered by solar in the desert and they still
by hylaride 2y ago
Sure, but desalination is very power hungry. In Oman they managed to get a desalination plant to be 1/3 directly covered by solar in the desert and they still need alternative power for when that 1/3 is unavailable. Battery costs are still high. If it was that easy, it would be done.
- matthewdgreen 2y agoWhat’s technically more achievable: adapting desalinization so it can work efficiently on intermittent power, reducing battery costs, or getting SMRs up and widely deployed along the Mexican coast in the next decade? I don’t have any idea if the answer to this but I don’t think they’re all equally pie in the sky either.
- hylaride 2y agoIn theory, SMRs - *if* they're built out at scale (meaning for many other uses). The problem is the first users are going to pay a premium and it likely won't happen until they're already scaled out (and may still have to compete with renewable subsidies). Renewables should still be competitive in certain cases, though.