Demand on the Texas power grid is expected to expand so immensely that it would take the equivalent of adding 30 nuclear plants’ worth of electricity by 2030 to meet the needs.
Is that 5x including battery storage? And is that 5x including degradation over 30 years?
It’s 5x more without batteries. The degradation level of modern panels makes them last usefully much longer than 30 years, but it’s reasonable to still just use 30 years excluding the free power past that point.
generally means a mix of baseload supply (nuclear, geothermal, hydro), “bursty” reveals renewables (solar, wind), and storage.
solar is cheapest, wind is complementary reducing battery needs. Hydro is less expensive than geothermal, and the latter is not as suited to giant power projects. Both provide the opportunity to be used as batteries pumping water uphill or heat down into the reservoir for “peaker power use” later in the day or seasonally. Solar and wind can power everything, but companies with expertise in other sectors can offer to help too. It’s only nuclear that is pure corruption uselessness.
It’s 5x more without batteries. The degradation level of modern panels makes them last usefully much longer than 30 years, but it’s reasonable to still just use 30 years excluding the free power past that point.
solar is cheapest, wind is complementary reducing battery needs. Hydro is less expensive than geothermal, and the latter is not as suited to giant power projects. Both provide the opportunity to be used as batteries pumping water uphill or heat down into the reservoir for “peaker power use” later in the day or seasonally. Solar and wind can power everything, but companies with expertise in other sectors can offer to help too. It’s only nuclear that is pure corruption uselessness.