Re:Clock Made Power Grids Possible
by bell-cot on Saturday March 02, 2024 @05:39AM
(#39571596)
It would be more accurate to say that, at 10+ second time scales, nuclear can have some convenient load following characteristics. But it takes a while for any load change to feed back through the turbine, then the condenser, then the steam generator, then the primary coolant loop, then the reactor, then ...
And the economics of nuclear - enormous fixed costs, minimal fuel costs - encourages utilities to run them near full power. So they'll have relatively little spare generating capacity, regardless of their load following characteristics.
OTOH, a gas turbine generating plant is essentially a turboprop airplane engine, with the propeller replaced by a large generator. 1950's mechanical control technology can adjust the throttle on a ~1-second time scale as the load on the grid changes.
And the economics of gas turbines - quick & cheap to build, expensive to run - encourages utilities to run them (or not) as demand requires. So they'll usually have lot of spare generating capacity, to meet demand surges.
And the economics of nuclear - enormous fixed costs, minimal fuel costs - encourages utilities to run them near full power. So they'll have relatively little spare generating capacity, regardless of their load following characteristics.
OTOH, a gas turbine generating plant is essentially a turboprop airplane engine, with the propeller replaced by a large generator. 1950's mechanical control technology can adjust the throttle on a ~1-second time scale as the load on the grid changes.
And the economics of gas turbines - quick & cheap to build, expensive to run - encourages utilities to run them (or not) as demand requires. So they'll usually have lot of spare generating capacity, to meet demand surges.