Why are wind and solar being deployed faster than nuclear?

[OKIsItJustMe]

It’s a simple fact that wind and solar farms are being completed at an increasing rate, while nuclear plants are not.



International Energy Agency | World Energy Outlook 2024


Why? Because wind and solar can be deployed more quickly, and are more cost effective than nuclear power. This table compares the costs of a few different technologies. I have edited it to focus on the United States, how much does it cost to build a new plant (in terms of $/kW) and what is the ultimate cost (in dollars) of producing a megawatt-hour of electricity using each technology.


Notes: O&M = operation and maintenance; LCOE = levelised cost of electricity; VALCOE = value-adjusted LCOE; kW = kilowatt; MWh = megawatt-hour; CCGT = combined-cycle gas turbine; n.a. = not applicable. Cost components, LCOE and VALCOE figures are rounded. Lower values for VALCOE indicate improved competitiveness.
Sources: IEA analysis; IRENA (2024).

International Energy Agency | World Energy Outlook 2024

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. It only takes a singular nuke accident to negate it's power benefits.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. That's true, but industry tends to favor profits over safety

Assuming a kilowatt-hour of electricity has a constant sales price, solar and wind are more profitable than nuclear power, because they cost less to produce.

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. The costs to implement are way less than nuclear power. And it gets more apparent every day.

There may be a future for nuclear with mini-reactors, but it's not deployable yet.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. Yes, that was my point

Perhaps I was unclear.

[OAITW r.2.0]

5. You were clear enough....the data doesn't lie.

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. Another reason for industry to prefer wind and solar is the time to deploy

With lower upfront costs, and faster deployment times that means the profits come in faster as well.

[duncang]

7. To me another advantage is it's a lot more modular.

You can easily do copy cat installations. Need a little more power add more turbines and batteries as needed. Doing baby steps. Want to add a nuclear power plant and that takes a lot of commitment.

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. Yes, absolutely, and the IEA makes this clear

PV panels are mass produced in factories, then, you can deploy them on a single home, or as part of a large solar “farm." The size of the farms can vary tremendously, depending on available space. In addition, while it’s nice to have a source of water to wash off solar panels now and again, a nuclear plant needs to be built by a significant body of water, to drive its steam turbines.

[OKIsItJustMe]

9. Another advantage of wind and solar over nuclear which tends to be forgotten is the water

In a drought (like most of the US is currently experiencing) the water needed for a nuclear plant may be in short supply.

• https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00849-y
• https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/07/climate-events-are-the-leading-cause-of-nuclear-power-outages/
• https://e360.yale.edu/digest/u.s.-nuclear-power-climate-change

[moniss]

10. Some peoploe who push nuclear do so because of the increased

cost of construction. The more expensive the project the more ways there are to scam on a project and the bigger the potential reward. Many times the crooked GQP will turn their back on a simple solution or cheap program in favor of one that's more complex, higher cost and more likely to generate more money to be loose for political donations.

[OKIsItJustMe]

11. Well, sure, graft and corruption are always factors

However, I was trying to focus on the straightforward financial logic. Wind and solar produce greater profits, faster than nuclear.

Here in New York, a significant portion of our power is generated using hydro (“hello Niagara Falls!”) and nuclear, but I’m signed up with a commercial outfit that offers a flat discount of 10% on power generated by their solar farms. It’s amazing how many people I talk to who think “there must be a catch."

[moniss]

12. Yes indeed please don't misunderstand I was trying to

just add a tangential point. The various calculations and comparisons also sometimes do not include entire lifetime costs. That can be where the cost per kW can go off the charts because of accounting for nuclear waste storage, transportation, monitoring, clean-up etc.

Just think of how high the dollars per kW will be for Fukishima.