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by infamia 2 days ago
> it's logically incoherent to try to determine what level of inflexible power generation will meet "the baseload".

Lots of folks don't know that coal and gas fired plants are able to turn down their power generation more than 90% (i.e., "ten to one turn down"). It's definitely true that cold restarts take a while. However, they often rather quickly and dramatically change their power output profile while running.
1 comments
bluGill 2 days ago
That depends on the design. Gas fired plants typically can turn down that much. However many coal plants cannot. The older the design the less likely it can turn down far.
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infamia 2 days ago
> That depends on the design. ... The older the design the less likely it can turn down far.

I don't doubt there's a small number of plants that can't do 10-1. That said, transmitters are intended to be replaced and upgraded regularly since they have a finite lifespan (they're cheap anyhow). 10-1 has been around for 35+ years now and you're really lucky to get 20 years out of a transmitter.

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bluGill 2 days ago
I don't know what you mean by transmitter.

I know of one factory that has their own coal power plant. The boiler is from the 1880s, the generator installed in the 1920s. It is horribly inefficient by any reasonable standard and takes hours to turn on. However because they keep it operational the power company gives them a massive discount on electric. About ever 5 years there is a major event and the power company has them turn it on for a few days and they power the entire town.

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infamia 1 day ago
That's a really cool story! I live near a couple of industrial sites like that which have a power plant on site, that were shut down quite a long time ago due to environmental concerns they don't burn cleanly at all as you said!

A transmitter is a sensor in a power plant that very precisely measures the air flow within the combustion chamber, so the fuel burns as clean/efficiently as possible. Relatively new transmitters can read with more precision, so you can dial down the airflow/fuel and the corresponding power output.

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