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So I had no context for how big that is and why it’s newsworthy
To put the sheer size of the 8 GW solar farm in perspective, the three largest solar farms in the world by capacity are China’s Ningxia Tenggeli and Golmud Wutumeiren solar farms, with a capacity of 3 MW each, and a 3.5-GW solar farm outside Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital.
Tho still didn’t understand the scale until I looked up a stat on nuclear
Nuclear energy has been powering the U.S. grid for the past 6 decades and produces around 1 gigawatt of power per plant on average.
Then again, I thought, maybe nuclear power might be less productive than I think it is, so looked up a list of biggest power plants in the world
- Number 1 is Three Gorges Damn at 22 GW
- there is an 7.96 GW nuclear power plant in Japan
- but 8 GW would be the 10th biggest power plant in the world
Then I learnt that that nuclear power plant has been out of action since like 2017. It’ll soon(?) be active again but for now the record for biggest nuclear is held by a 7.4 MW power plant in South Korea
In conclusion, my ADHD medications have worn off and I should go to bed
If you want another sense of scale, 510 GW of renewable power were added in 2023 worldwide. Source
So this ginormous solar field is roughly as powerful as a single nuclear plant?
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.
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
Fair enough, I suppose
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.
No
Impressive. Solar has gotten to be really competitive.
Big win. Step in the right direction. Now we just need some type of get back from the oil businesses and tycoons of the past. Take everything they have and use their scammed resources to pave the way forward.