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by boshomi 52 days ago
Nuclear energy is pure economic madness in a context where wind and solar power are generating a surplus of electricity. Today, May 1, electricity prices in Europe are in some cases at the technical minimum of minus €500/MWh.

Thermal power generation, which is difficult to control, is completely unnecessary in an environment where we have negative electricity prices practically every day from March to October. In Europe, we need rapidly controllable energy sources—obviously more storage capacity.

Due to the many hours during which electricity prices are close to zero, the economically viable full-load hours of a nuclear power plant are reduced to barely 3,000 hours per year, effectively tripling the real levelized cost of electricity (LOCE). In addition to the high costs of nuclear power plants, there is also the enormous expense incurred by the government for military and police security at the facilities.

Since the government prioritizes nuclear power, this leads to heavily manipulated electricity prices, with homeowners with solar panels being among the biggest losers, as they are required to feed electricity into the grid but are effectively paid the full negative prices (usually via weighted average pricing methods)

3 comments

The opposite is true.

- the current system based on intermittent renewables is the madness

- it is the intermittent renewables that are difficult to control, not thermal generation

- LCOE, not LOCE.

- Giving priority to intermittent renewables is not a law of nature. In fact it is idiocy that needs to be be stopped.

- Allowing intermittent renewables to externalize the cost of their intermittency to other, stable producers is a huge market distortion

- governments do not prioritize nuclear (yet). They prioritize intermittent renewables

"electricity prices in Europe are in some cases at the technical minimum of minus €500/MWh." - it means all citizens will pay for it through cfd's. In germany its about 18bn/y

Nuclear can increase load hours with bess buffers

I would counter that being reliant on gas and oil from our enemies as we currently are is madness.