Dr Conca reports that this week, like much of July, a heat wave is cooking America with extreme temperatures, affecting energy production as well as causing fires and water shortages, sucking electricity like crazy to power the cooling necessary to avoid discomfort and even death. According to the National Weather Service, 122 million Americans are under heat alerts. Fortunately, nuclear power has not minded, scoring record capacity factors of 96% and up with no increase in price. Other energy sources do not fare so well. It is all about diversity. Whether in biology, in culture, in training, or in technology, when conditions change a system survives if there is sufficient diversity to adapt. Otherwise it dies. This is no less true for electricity production. Having a diverse group of energy systems is key to a society surviving changes in demographics and changes in government, geological processes and natural disasters, disruption in supplies from war, or extreme weather changes. This concept is in full display this month as this heat wave continues to sweep across America. Just like during the polar vortex, when nuclear stepped up to relieve natural gas and coal when they failed to deliver on the demand, nuclear also performs wonderfully during extreme weather at the other end of the thermometer. This kind of constant baseload power during the hottest part of the day is essential to keep our air conditioning going and for stabilizing the grid against blackouts.
Nuclear plants are the backbone of the electricity grid, operating all the time even under the most extreme weather conditions. Unfortunately, much of the electricity needed to combat this heat wave is concentrated during peak hours of the afternoon when wind turbines are not turning. Instead, peaker plants have to come online. Peaker plants operate only to make up the difference between base load and peak load. Our current energy grid makes these plants necessary, but they come at a steep price.
The original URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2016/07/28/americas-heat-wave-no-sweat-for-nuclear-power/#6396f477163c
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