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The shale-gas boom that's flooded the U.S. with cheap natural gas has ended most plans to build...
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Friday, March 16, 2012, 10:45 AM ETThe shale-gas boom that's flooded the U.S. with cheap natural gas has ended most plans to build nuclear reactors. Utilities are turning to gas-fired plants to generate electricity, with 258 on line to be built through 2015; they're also faster and much less expensive to build. But some in the industry worry about relying too heavily on any one fuel: "Even if it's economical, is it wise?"
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us....
P.S. us = United States
Not to mention, I'm not sure the industry has gone through the cycle yet where well depletion of these shale wells is kicking in so fast that its hard to increase production w/o increasing drilling.
is it just the lack of lobbyists?
clean (relatively), abundant, cheap, local. what's not to love?
E
Ironically, it's hated for precisely the reasons you iterate. It's a genuine threat to the left's dedicated efforts to maintain power and control the populace and spin utopian solar/wind fantasies by denying access to cheap and abundant energy. Nuclear isn't nearly as feared by these came culprits because they can always get the populace terrified just by saying, "nuclear." Natural gas, however, needs a more concerted effort to suppress.
1. There is a glut of natural gas in shale all over most of the U. S. So much of it that we have to reduce drilling to keep the price up! If the price goes any lower it will not pay to drill.
2. Nat gas fueled power plants cost much less to build, are not subject to threat of continuing new regulatory requirements, are much more likely to be accepted by the public and by financial institutions.
3. Gas turbine combined cycle plants are much cheaper to operate and maintain, and they will continue to be so.
4. There is a shortage of skilled nuclaer engineers and operators because of the above points.
5. The only foreseeable concern about the future availability of nat gas as a fuel for power generators is the build out of the gas transmission and distribution piping systems; and there is and will be plenty of non government financing to accomplish this.
Bottom line gas is here to stay...do not invest in coal or nuke.
GE, Siemens, Hitachi, and a few more.
Also manufacturers of large compressors for nat gas, and very large waste heat boilers (unfired steam generators).
historically - utilites like to have a diversity of supply
base load - always on - nuclear and coal are the cheapest options - they come in big chunks of capacity - think 500 MW or larger - the capital and operating and fuel costs of these behemoths gives them scale advantages over most anything else. They are not flexible - they are costly to ramp up and down.
peak and sub peak loads - power demand varies through the day - utilities handle this with interruptible contracts but they also use gas and hydro power - hydro very cheap and very flexible. gas turbines are also flexible and until recently the fuel costs have made this expensve - but not anymore. Gas can come in smaller chunks - think 100 to 500 MW increments.
I ignore wind and solar. they are irrelevant.
in the old datys with expensive gas - it was hard to make the case for 100% gas power gen - these days given the advantages plus the cheap fule cost it hard to go any other way for new capacity.
E
Right on, except you have underestimated nat gas fuelled gas turbine combined cycle plants. GTCC are the most efficient and now the most economic base load plants, except maybe nuclear. Nuclear O&M costs are essentially fixed, so it pays to run them all you can. New nukes will be cancelled (in favor of GTCC) because of high permitting and construction cost.
T