Just when ya need something to cheer ya up..
No worry in won’t be long till globull warming melts the ice caps and brings the ocean to them.
This article is interesting. My uranium mine is concerned, short term.
Duke’s Allen plant (coal burning, I think) just a few miles downstream of Lake Norman was forced to shutdown last summer for about a week when the river water temps got too high due to less water being released from the lake.
I think most larget thermal plants have an achilles heel when it comes to the adequacy of their heat sinks, be it run of river (temps or flows) or lake (temps and level). The nukes aren’t in a different boat.
Now when you are having to shutter a unit that dispatches at sub $10/MWh and have to replace that capacity with gas/oil combined or simple cycle turbines dispatching at $56-$200/MWh you might see it in your bill...
If the nukes are forced off in the Carolinas, undoubtedly coal stations may be susceptible to derates and shuttering as well because of thermal limits, pond levels, or low river flows— now you are talking a real capacity crisis.
Look to Georgia to get the “capacity crisis” kicked off this year; a lot of people may find themselves short in a lean market.
What’s overlooked here is there are loads on the rivers/lakes in the Carolinas and Georgia that will probably be lost as their suctions are uncovered. That should help cover a capacity shortfall at the cost of salaries, jobs and produced goods and services...
Thank God for Global Warming.
Once the Poles melt, the oceans will rise and flood the lake, restoring the plant’s water supply...unless the plant, too, is flooded....
If this happens, on an extensive scale (several plants) during the winter or summer peak, there could be outages. The reserve “cushion” is thinner these days than it was 10 years ago.
This is interesting as we have a big fight going on in my south Texas area about a proposed Nuke plant being built.
Everyone is concerned about its high water usage and the effect on our river and ground water wells.
San Antonio, north of us is already trying to control more of the river water that heads our way.