this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2024
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/17595046

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (4 children)

So this ginormous solar field is roughly as powerful as a single nuclear plant?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

A single nuclear unit in the US typically has 1 GW output or less. Some plants have multiple units. A two unit plant might have around 2 GW output for instance.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

The world's largest nuclear power plant, which has been offline for over a year and hasn't been fully operational in over a decade

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Fair enough, I suppose

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

No.

MW is the maximum capacity not the average.

A nuclear reactor runs at close to its maximum output pretty much 24/7/365.

A solar farm only operates during the day, and even then it only operates at maximum output in the middle of a clear sunny day.

The overall average output of a nuclear plant is typically around 90% of its capacity.

The overall average output of solar farm is 20-25%.

This massive farm will still only output a bit more electricity than what a single nuclear reactor outputs.

A nuclear power station typically has more than one reactor, so compared to a typical nuclear power station this isn’t even close to the average nuclear plant.

Though it does beat a few of the smallest nuclear plants that only have a single reactor.

Nuclear outputs a fuck-ton of electricity for its size.