New York’s Visionary Clean Energy Standard Values Nuclear Plants

[GLW]

and all of the above posts are definitely on-topic because they all skirt around the issue of POLICY,...

New York's latest CES is policy, driven by politics,...

these politics have not deemed commercial nuclear to be a good fit,...

these politics have deemed commercial nuclear to be a necessary fit,...

a necessity which in the long term will be phased out,...

the NEI should keep that in mind,...

unless, of course, those guys and gals at the NEI getting excited about this turn of events are looking to secure THEIR retirements and letting the future take care of itself,...

did that sound cynical?!?!?!? 

[Marlin]

Thanks for putting in all the effort, guys.

The problem I have with not building the reactors that are available TODAY....is the other wonderful, next generation reactors and SMRs will most likely take a decade (at least) to get the true dinosaurs (NRC) to approve the damn things.....then there is construction....then there is training and licensing the Operators on an entirely new technology. Believe me, I want this more than anything, but I would also like to see AP1000's and ABWR's being put up while we are waiting.

   That brings us full circle to extending the life of existing plants for the transition period. It's just that we would like to see a transition to a more diverse mix of power including nuclear. Those wanting to fund the transition see it as a transition to renewables like solar, wind and hydro to combar AGT. As I disagree with the fundamental root of why they are doing it, is the enemy of our enemy our friend. In this case they are our friend/ally.


 


 

[hamsamich]

Rerun must be laughiing his A$$ off at thiis

[hamsamich]

oh speaking of NY - dnt know if anyone has seen this

http://www.stltoday.com/business/national-and-international/ny-nuclear-plant-scheduled-to-close-saved-by-new-owner/article_987529bf-0575-5a77-9169-2bdf9353289d.html

[GLW]

oh speaking of NY - dnt know if anyone has seen this

http://www.stltoday.com/business/national-and-international/ny-nuclear-plant-scheduled-to-close-saved-by-new-owner/article_987529bf-0575-5a77-9169-2bdf9353289d.html

Entergy:

It makes money and sheds money pits, seems to be a pretty capable business model,...

smart boys down South,...

after all the hue and cry at VY,...

when Entergy told NY it was gonna close Fitz,...

it appears NY blinked,...


ref:

Carbon Dioxide Emissions Increased in New England with the Loss of Vermont Yankee

http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/analysis/new-england-using-more-natural-gas-following-vermont-yankee-closure/

The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant ended its operations at the end of 2014. Elected officials and environmentalists claimed that its generation would be replaced by “carbon-free” solar and wind power. However, that did not happen. New England upped its natural gas generation to make up for the lost power from Vermont Yankee, as data from the Independent System Operator for New England shows...........



...................

Vermont Yankee’s Demise
Vermont Yankee is an independent power producer (merchant plant), and as such, the costs associated with its operation and maintenance cannot be recovered through regulated cost-of-service rates. Vermont Yankee’s owner, Entergy, announced in August of 2013 that it would be closing the plant at the end of 2014 due to financial factors that included low wholesale electricity prices reducing the profitability of the plant; the need to invest in significant capital costs to maintain the unit based on NRC’s requirements; and low prices in the regional market for electric generating capacity, which provides revenue to plant owners in addition to their revenues from electricity sales. Low natural gas prices have resulted in low wholesale electricity prices, and have made natural gas the major supplier of electricity in New England. So, in this context, it is not at all surprising that natural gas substituted for the reduced nuclear power generation from the closure of Vermont Yankee.


New England’s Growing Dependence on Natural Gas
New England significantly increased its reliance on natural gas as a fuel for electric generation in the past several years. Natural gas provided less than 30 percent of the electricity generated in New England in 2001. But a decade later, the region’s reliance on natural gas generation increased to 52 percent, according to the Energy Information Administration. Unfortunately, transmission pipeline capacity has not kept up with the increased use for natural gas in New England. The lack of sufficient pipeline capacity is more pronounced in winter months, when natural gas is also used to heat homes and businesses. These infrastructure constraints have contributed to the large price spikes in spot natural gas and electricity prices in New England during several cold winters.


Conclusion(a)
The closing of Vermont Yankee resulted in additional natural gas consumption as many analysts predicted, and with additional carbon dioxide emissions. Interestingly, Vermont was the first state to ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing, which produces the natural gas that is increasingly used in electrical generation. The shale gas renaissance has produced sustained low natural gas prices and low wholesale energy prices, resulting in financial problems for merchant power plants that cannot get adequate compensation to stay in business, especially due to subsidies and mandates for competing intermittent sources like wind and solar. Prudent management, however, means that diversity of supply issues should be considered. Relying on one major power source without adequate infrastructure could result in less reliable electricity generation and spiking of electricity prices.



Conclusion(b)

yup, pert smart boys down South,....



 

[hamsamich]

yeah looks like they are trying to do the same thing in CA.  But in reality even if they do replace the nuclear gen with renewables in CA, any other natty gas generation residual after 2024 could have been/can still be replaced/kept lower with diablo's output.  I wonder if Ill- I-noise is paying attention to all this?

[Rennhack]

It was announced today that Exelon is buying Fitz.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2016/08/exelon_buys_fitzpatrick_nuclear_plant_in_oswego_county.html

[hamsamich]

already posted 3 posts back

[GLW]

yeah looks like they are trying to do the same thing in CA.  But in reality even if they do replace the nuclear gen with renewables in CA, any other natty gas generation residual after 2024 could have been/can still be replaced/kept lower with diablo's output.  I wonder if Ill- I-noise is paying attention to all this?

every place is different, and times change, but here's some food for thought:

I watched the windmills go up on top of Searsburg Mountain in Vermont circa 1996 - 1997,...

I was doing DnD at YAEC at the time and commuted over Searsburg Mountain every day, four, sometime five days per week,...

they put 11 mills up there on US Forestry Service land,...

in 1998 a good lightning storm knocked out more than half of them,...

it was kinda impressive as I got to see one of the lightning strikes on one of the mills during my commute,...

but the gist of this post is that in the past 20 years, wind and solar have only increased to 2.4% of New England's power needs,...

in that same time frame New England has lost VY, YAEC, CY and MY,...

plus coal and oil plants,...

at current rates of increase it will be at least 17 years before wind and solar can make up for the current nuke power in New England,...

the deficits from the older nukes will STILL have to be met by natgas, it will take dam near 40 years for renewables to catch up to that, and replace natgas,...

and all those renewables will have to be continuously subsidized to make it happen,...

subsidized at far higher rates per MW than the current NY CES will subsidize nuclear,...

now you know another ace in the hand why New York folded when Entergy called,...

First World problems,...

[hamsamich]

great insight GLW.