Ontario's power glut means possible nuclear plant shutdowns [View all]

[kristopher]

Ontario's power glut means possible nuclear plant shutdowns

OTTAWA — For at least eight hours Monday, Ontario is once again forecast to produce more electricity than it consumes, and the recurring glut has one top energy executive warning of temporary nuclear power plant shutdowns.

“We have largely been able to avoid nuclear shutdowns to deal with the (surplus) conditions but this may not be the case in the near future,” Paul Murphy, head of the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), recently told an industry gathering.

His comment is raising questions about Ontario’s plans to boost nuclear power as the province’s chief source of energy.

Nuclear-generated power supplies about 57 per cent of Ontario’s electricity. Based on the province’s assumption that demand will grow moderately over the long term, multi-billion-dollar projects are contemplated for new reactors and refurbishments of existing ones.

The problem is, unlike wind...

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Ontario+power+glut+means+possible+nuclear+plant+shutdowns/6105634/story.html

The more renewables are installed the more this becomes an existential problem for coal and nuclear. They are forced to shut down more and more often, meaning that the amount of power they sell is reduced.

Fuel as a portion of their overhead is rather small,and the reduced sales lowers their income by more than it reduces their fuel costs; meaning they have a shortfall which has to be made up by charging more for the power they *are* able to sell.

This increase in cost, in turn, makes renewables more competitive leading to more capacity being installed.

A perfect descending spiral for both coal and nuclear unless governments step in to prop them up with artificially high prices on the electricity they produce.