• CyberMonkey404
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    6 months ago

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

    • Kayday@lemmy.world
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      6 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.

    • ShinkanTrain
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      6 months ago

      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

    • dgmib@lemmy.world
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      6 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.