> It's a common mistake to price up renewables delivering flat nuclear shaped energy in an effort to inflate the price.
> Demand is not flat.
The system as a whole has to deliver baseload plus variable demand. If the demand and supply do not match then there are problems. Load shifting/Demand Flexibility Service may be a promising concept, but there is only so much that will shift.
> It's actually a bit more solar shaped on many markets
That is not the case for the UK, the country being discussed, with peak electrical demand in winter. Electrification of heating (and not so great a need for cooling in the summer) indicates this will continue to be so.
> That is not the case for the UK, the country being discussed, with peak electrical demand in winter.
Wind also peaks in winter, while nuclear fails to rise to the occasion so maybe we should force nuclear to invest in seasonal storage so that we get a really fair comparison?
Wind also peaks in peaks, leading to gluts. Summarising something so irregular in a single number misses out essential properties. The peak/trough pattern is so good for heating without plenty of thermal storage (not something the UK’s buildings are renowned for).
> maybe we should force nuclear to invest in seasonal storage
Probably simpler to build a bit more nuclear, then use it in summer to drive DACCS (heat and electricity) or processes like raw material smelting. Better to have industry operating on fairly predictable schedules (summer on, winter off) than pre-empting them on a regular basis (as startup/shutdown could reduce useful work done/harm equipment).
The system as a whole has to deliver baseload plus variable demand. If the demand and supply do not match then there are problems. Load shifting/Demand Flexibility Service may be a promising concept, but there is only so much that will shift.
> It's actually a bit more solar shaped on many markets
That is not the case for the UK, the country being discussed, with peak electrical demand in winter. Electrification of heating (and not so great a need for cooling in the summer) indicates this will continue to be so.