3 ms·
The main problem with renewables is their capacity factor (amount of time they can produce their max capacity). In the US this is ~24%, in Germany I think it's
by mmmBacon 1y ago
The main problem with renewables is their capacity factor (amount of time they can produce their max capacity). In the US this is ~24%, in Germany I think it's ~12% (can be wrong here). The reason for nuclear here is that it has the highest capacity factor of any form of energy (see EIA.gov).
- epistasis 1y agoThose numbers sound about right, but the real problem for solar in Germany is how it inflates the cost, and the intermittency. The capacity factor is just a readout of those problems. Germany is one of the major economies with the very worst solar resources in the world. So it might actually make a lot of sense for them to build a bit of nuclear instead of stringing HVDC from Spain or Italy or wherever is sunnier. Or not, it's a very tricky projection! These costs are changing quickly, and any nuclear build is a bet not only on the current costs of technologies, but a bet on the future 30-60 years of costs.