Last week a journalist used me as an example of a politician being anti-solar. I have two confessions. First, I’m not. Second, I can understand why he levelled that accusation.
Personally I’m in the FES camp, which probably doesn’t match your (accurate) political mapping
The thing people seem to have forgotten about nuclear is the great flexibility it has for choosing locations. No need to be near a coal field or a gas main we can put them almost anywhere
If we stick to NPS EN-1 and use the waste heat (ca 60% of thermal output) for industrial and domestic heating, we eat into the (heat pump) electricity demand and need less nuclear plants
So remote, rural areas a long way from main demand centres should not be chosen for nuclear, as those will be awash with renewables and offshore, while a safe but economic distance from major urban areas makes perfect sense
Also in FES2024, to return to solar, your actual topic, I notice that the Holistic Transition pathway, which we are more or less following, assumes solar will be mainly “micro solar” less than 1 MW (say about 4 acres)
Spot on, as ever! SMRs have great potential to generate energy closer to where it’s needed. I’d be much happier if we were mainly seeing micro-solar but that seems to be less and less the case. Panels are now so incredibly cheap (see forced labour!) that alongside substantial battery storage, there are vast sums to be made. In fact, it’s the battery storage that is the carrot for developers.
Personally I’m in the FES camp, which probably doesn’t match your (accurate) political mapping
The thing people seem to have forgotten about nuclear is the great flexibility it has for choosing locations. No need to be near a coal field or a gas main we can put them almost anywhere
If we stick to NPS EN-1 and use the waste heat (ca 60% of thermal output) for industrial and domestic heating, we eat into the (heat pump) electricity demand and need less nuclear plants
So remote, rural areas a long way from main demand centres should not be chosen for nuclear, as those will be awash with renewables and offshore, while a safe but economic distance from major urban areas makes perfect sense
Also in FES2024, to return to solar, your actual topic, I notice that the Holistic Transition pathway, which we are more or less following, assumes solar will be mainly “micro solar” less than 1 MW (say about 4 acres)
Spot on, as ever! SMRs have great potential to generate energy closer to where it’s needed. I’d be much happier if we were mainly seeing micro-solar but that seems to be less and less the case. Panels are now so incredibly cheap (see forced labour!) that alongside substantial battery storage, there are vast sums to be made. In fact, it’s the battery storage that is the carrot for developers.