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Saturday, September 25, 2010

A read into Nuclear vs Solar: Clash of the Numbers #energy #environment

In any comparative study between energy studies it is essential to take a deeper look into the the number and assumptions driving them. This article does that on a recent study that suggests the lead of nuclear energy over solar. I encourage you to read the full article, and I have marked the lines that I thought to be a good summary.



Basically, in such studies ensure the following:



1. Prevailing conditions on government incentives that alter the situation considerably.

2. Size of the plant due to the obvious economies of scale

3. Load factor conditions for renewable energy sources. This is particularly relevant for solar energy in sunny areas like the Middle East and Africa.

4. Political costs for developing countries when it comes to nuclear energy



I leave you with the study and article.

Amplify’d from blog.cleantechies.com

Nuclear vs Solar: Clash of the Numbers

Carlo OmbelloPublished on Date August 23rd, 2010 by Carlo Ombello

Posted in Category Nuclear, Category Solar

I believe that a proper apple-to-apple comparison should be that of levelized costs
Multi-MW plants, clearly benefiting from some economies of scale with installation costs now around €2,500/kW, are already in the 15¢/kWh ballpark without the aid of any incentives.
New nuclear appears to have costs up to 15¢/kWh.
Gone are the days when claimed levelized costs for nuclear power were about 3-4¢/kWh; it now seems nuclear projects in the developed world will not be completed without a big helping hand from governments and taxpayers.

In a business where quick-to-install, modular renewables like PV are outpacing all economic projections and show costs decreasing by the month (triggered by plummeting incentives and ever higher production volumes), the economic outlook for the once proudly cheap nuclear energy has never been as bleak.

Read more at blog.cleantechies.com
 

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