[toxik]

You’re not listening. They are literally calling for plannable power. I don’t think they’re stupid people either. You cover the base consumption using plannable sources, then use gas/hydro turbines for short term variation. The problem now is that when the wind/solar vary, you can only compensate so much with stored hydro before you empty the reservoir. Then electricity becomes expensive because you burn gas etc, or buy from elsewhere - which is EXACTLY what has happened.

[Schroedingersat]

When solar is 1/8th the price of current fission projects for the same net capacity and falling by double digit percentage per year you have a hell of a lot of money left over for moving the energy around.

Fission is around $10/watt with a mostly-plannable capacity factor of 60-80%. Fission is a cakewalk compared to fusion.

Solar is around $0.5/watt with a capacity factor of around 25% and falling rapidly.

The operating and capital costs of a gas plant are around the same with a plannable capacity factor in the high 90s.

So by spending $6 on solar, and $2 on a gas plant. You have $7/watt left over to figure out how to turn free electricity into hydrogen or methane at 50% efficiency and store it for a year.

We already have electrolyzers that work for $0.5 to $1.5 watt at around 50% efficiency.

Hydrogen storage is hard, but that left over $5 per 4kWh/yr should take care of it. If it doesn't, sabatier rractors are getting cheaper too.

The only thing we have to do for people to start using them is stop the coal and gas subsidies.

This is also just one of many options. Salt cavern CAES is similarly viable

[toxik]

So then according to your analysis there is no problem with solar/wind, and the power companies are basically lying when they say they need plannable power.

Meanwhile people are resorting to paying with their savings to pay the 10-fold increase in their power bills.

[pfdietz]

China is selling electrolyzers at $0.30/watt.