3 ms·
>Not really much lower as you'd like to portray it. A LOT of the higher usage at night is due to the fact that night-time electricity is cheaper. If you're go
by crdoconnor 12y ago
>Not really much lower as you'd like to portray it.
A LOT of the higher usage at night is due to the fact that night-time electricity is cheaper.
If you're going to run an aluminum smelting plant, for instance (uses TONS of electricity), it currently makes sense to run it full bore when electricity is cheapest - at night.
If daytime electricity were cheaper or even the same price, that graph would certainly look differently to how you're portraying it.
>Solar only works if you can produce energy and use it locally. As distance increases the energy loss is significant.
Much like with every other form of energy. Surplus solar gets exported right now - Germany sends it to France.
- testrun 12y agoCalling bullshit on this one. Smelters do not work this way, they buy electricity in bulk and is a 24/7 operation.
- seanflyon 12y agoEvery time I have seen someone "buy electricity in bulk" that meant that they had time of day pricing (payed more during the day and less at night). Perhaps smelters don't take advantage of the cheaper nighttime rates but I would expect that many industries do.
- marcus_holmes 12y agoI read that Germany is importing French nuclear power. Mind you, both could be perfectly possible in the messed-up EEC energy market.
- crdoconnor 12y agoBoth happen. It depends upon demand/output conditions at the time. France tends to use a lot of electric heaters during winter, for instance, which burns through most of their nuclear power output (which is nearly constant throughout the year). On sunny winter days, they import extra from German renewable sources. I think during summer they might import more too. During overcast and wind-free days, Germany is probably a net importer of France's excess nuclear power.