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"Baseload" is load, not generation. It's not necessary -- for example the small northern grids that only have diesel generators operate fine even though they
by bryanlarsen 4mo ago
"Baseload" is load, not generation. It's not necessary -- for example the small northern grids that only have diesel generators operate fine even though they have no generators that don't have the capacity for quick cycling.
Baseload was a cost optimization. Back in the day it was cheaper to build coal & nuclear plants that took days to power on. Somebody figured out that if a grid was built of a mix of those cheaper plants and more expensive plants that could start up quicker, it would lower costs. The typical grid was baseload coal and gas peakers. But ~20 years ago gas peakers became cheaper than baseload coal and any need or desire for baseload generation went away.
China is building a lot of coal plants to complement their solar buildout. Notably these are not base load plants. Their new coal plants do not run 24/7, they only run at night.
Similarly, many new nuclear plant designs are not base load designs; they are designs that can be safely and quickly turned on and off.
P.S. the correct term for generation is "non-dispatchable", not "baseload"
- rayiner 4mo ago> Their new coal plants do not run 24/7, they only run at night That’s baseload! Baseload is load you can’t turn off: the minimum load that’s required in a 24 hour period. It can be fulfilled with non-dispatchable sources, but it need not be. In this case, China is building coal plants to address the baseload that doesn’t go away at night when the solar isn’t producing.
- bryanlarsen 4mo agoNote that China has started building battery banks at massive scale recently.
- eldaisfish 4mo agoIs china building new coal plants or not? Do you want to hazard a guess as to why? The answer is because we still do not know how to supply expanding electricity demand with wind, solar and batteries. The side of the story that people on this website love to bring up is the fact that China happens to be the largest builder of solar and wind, which is true, but the increased electricity demand is being met via coal, for the most part.
- bryanlarsen 4mo ago> Do you want to hazard a guess as to why? Because it was only in 2025 that batteries became cheaper than coal, so the lead times involved mean they are still building coal. They're very rapidly ramping up battery bank installation, it's too early to tell if they're also ramping down coal plant installations, but it seems likely.
- eldaisfish 4mo agochina has confirmed building new coal plants until at least 2030.
- bryanlarsen 4mo agoAnd it's still building nuclear plants a decade after it decided to concentrate on solar + coal. Plans have lead times and inertia, and China doesn't want to put all of it's eggs in one basket. They'll keep building coal and nuclear at a low rate for a long time to ensure they never lose the core knowledge on how to build them so they're always available as an option.
- eldaisfish 4mo agochina is building coal plants because china has coal deposits. Please can you answer the question of where China is supplying its growing electricity demand? it is mostly coal or not?
- dalyons 4mo agoThe increased demand is absolutely and categorically not being met by coal. Look it up, chinas total coal emissions have declined the last few years, despite overall demand growth. It’s being entirely met by renewables.
- eldaisfish 4mo agoi strongly suggest you look this up before making claims like this. Nearly 60% of china's electricity demand in 2025 was met by coal generation.