The French, with their 75% nuclear, do in fact load follow. They also manage the capacity by selling their surplus to us, and just about every other neighbour. And I don't suppose they sell it at a loss.
Harry your knowledge is years out of date. A large number of coal fired stations vary load many times a day. They can be as quick or quicker than CCGT's.
Take this for example, from a randomly selected weekday from about a month ago.
Coal fired 480MW unit, 47 year old plant.
0559 0MW 0600 90MW 0630 280MW 0700 320MW 0730 480MW 0830 440MW 0900 480MW 1830 280MW 2030 480MW 0000 0MWThat equates to a maximum ramp rate of around 560MW per hour and there is around
15 - 20GW of coal fired generation in England and Wales that is capable of responding as quick as that.
They certainly do sell it at a loss. The French power companies are near bankrupt and will tax money to dismantle redundant nuclear plant. They need to both export and import electricity to make the system work
Which one is that?
You never noticed safety valves on steam locomotives dick head? When they lift, energy is being chucked away.
Talking like a d*****ad again. The fuel is free. There is the capital cost and then very little. And no big dismantling costs at the end of life, unlike nuclear.
So just how much will it cost to dismantle, remove and make good to the standard required of nuclear installations enough wind turbines to generate a reliable gigawatt or so?
harry wrote: [snip]
Ah yes Harold, very useful that site.
"Nuclear power is the primary source of electric power in France. In 2004,
425.8 TWh out of the country's total production of 540.6 TWh of electricity was from nuclear power (78.8%), the highest percentage in the world.[1]France's nuclear power industry has been called "a success story" that has put the nation "ahead of the world" in terms of providing cheap, CO2-free energy.[2] In terms of industrialized nations, mainland France has the lowest carbon dioxide production per unit of GDP in the world.
As of 2012, France's electricity price to household customers is the 7th cheapest amongst the 27 member European Union, and also the 7th cheapest to industrial consumers"
And the section you referenced does not state what you claim. That makes you a liar Harold.
The local pikeys would remove for nothing given chance. ie the value of the scrap materials exceeds the cost of demolition. Nuclear power is finished. Expensive dangerous white elephant. Even the French are abandoning it.
Just where in what you posted does it say the French are changing anything? It says they are deciding what to do in order to reduce what they use and how they get more low carbon generating capacity.
They aren't going to get anything lower than their existing nukes.
What don't you understand about the word "transition". They have realised they can't afford nuclear power. Both from a safety and financial point of veiw.
Whilst of course te Finns and the Japanese have realised that in fact they cant afford NOT to have it.
From both a safety and a financial point of view.
As you are a supporter of intermittent renewable technologies that might not be something you want to be looked at too closely...
Andy
And it is of course a total lie anyway.
reactors can be ramped between 25% and 100% of power at a rate roughly
25% an hour, and the smaller duration fluctuiations are catered for by adjusting the boiler steam valves. You can simply get a short term power increase by opening up the steam, at the expense of falling boiler pressure. The boiler itself is a small energy store.It isnt cost effective to do that though. reduced load poisons the fuel rods eventuially and gives you less return on investment. Nuclear fuel is so cheap that you might as well sell into the market at 3-4p a unit when you can, since switching off will save you almost nothing.
Harry has spun a 'dont' into a 'cant' to make a false point by lying, as usual.
Better than wind/solar/tidal, then, where the output can't be altered at all.
Use your skill to find the 47 year old coal fired plant and you will find your answer. I am not providing any more clues.
The power station operators know that, the control system knows that.
Lifting safety valves during normal operation is an extremely rare occurence. So rare that the only time they are lifted is during insurance tests.
Not entirely true. Any of these technolgies can be shut down completely at a moment's notice (feather blades / turn off inverter / shut sluice gates).
It's turning them UP that's hard :)
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