Reply #97: Shows a MISUNDERSTANDING

[DrGregory]

>Every utility operator knows that power plants provide energy to the grid, which serves load. The simplistic mental model of one plant serving one load is valid only on a very small desert >island. The standard remedy for failed plants is other interconnected plants that are working—not “some sort of massive energy storage devised.”

The baseload is NOT a property of power plants and has NOTHING to do with an
assumption that a single power plant is serving the load.

Baseload is a property of the time-dependence of the demand on the utility.

If you graph the minute by minute power demand on a utility over the day;
< demand is demand - what the customers want > it varies. It looks a little
like the graph of a stock price or the Dow Jones average over a day - a
jagged line.

However, you can draw a nice horizontal line underneath the jagged one. In the
case of the stock price; the value at that horizontal line is a value the
stock held 24 hours a day. If the lowest point on the jagged daily graph is
$5 /share - then the stock was worth at least $5 / share for 24 hours.

Sure it went up and down during the day but never fell below $5/share.
That $5 / share would be analogous to the baseload.

GADS it is so tiring having to explain elementary school level mathematics.

As far as nuclear power plants not being dependable; what a load of manure.

Chicago and northern Illinois, the service area of Commonwealth Edison; are
as dependent on nuclear generated electricity as much as France is. The
fleet of reactors owned by Exelon powers Chicago and a big portion of the
industrial Midwest - and are as dependable as any other power plants.

As far as solar and wind being reliable - yes when solar / wind provide
such a MINUSCULE amount of energy to the grid - it's hard for them to
"fail" - there's such a small difference from when they are working and
when they are not.

Dr. Greg