Two years ago was the year the music died for California renewables, as they neared their limit of efficient production. According California Energy Commission data, in 2019 in-state renewables only contributed to about 23 percent of total California power consumption, barely a percent or so more than in 2018, and even that was less than the increase in renewables capacity for the same period. In that same year, according to the California Independent System Operator, in-state renewables overproduction (power that could not be used at the time it was produced) was double that of the year previous. But it could have been a lot worse.
For some reason, someone decided that 2019 would be a good time to greatly increase maintenance activities at Diablo Canyon Power Plant even though it is scheduled to close. This resulted in a series of shutdowns throughout the year amounting to the equivalent of taking a reactor offline for some four months. In 2020 they did the same, leaving Diablo Canyon’s vaunted banner of reliability in tatters by dropping production by more than 10 percent … for two straight years. By pure coincidence, this also had the effect of substantially reducing the level of renewable overproduction in 2019 and 2020. Even at that, renewables overproduction climbed yet another 65 percent in 2020.
In summary, recent official data confirms the fact that California renewables will never be able to efficiently serve much more than a quarter of California’s annual power demand without efficient energy storage. But efficient energy storage is out of the question. In order to store intermittent renewable energy, you must expand renewable capacity to collect additional energy for storage. For example, for every solar panel directly producing power, you would need at least three more to collect energy for storage to use when the sun is not available. The cost of the redundant capacity along with the cost of storage (especially short-lived battery technologies, and concurrent with increased demand for electric vehicle batteries) would inflate the cost of renewable energy by an order of magnitude, and the resultant scramble for finite resources would have a devastating effect on the environment. Besides, if energy storage is the answer, it should have been built yesterday.
Now this maintenance business at Diablo Canyon could be legit. I mean the place is old and it could very well be falling apart. Still, it is very unusual see so much being spent on maintenance of a facility that is on the verge of closing. On the other hand, it could be an attempt on the part of public officials, with the co-operation of PG&E, to delay, obscure, or otherwise cover up the now-indisputable failings of renewables, so as to allow the continuation of wasteful renewable subsidies and to justify our exorbitant utility rates which are among the highest in the country, while in the end natural gas will get to pick up the slack. You decide. And, by the way, to those of you out there that are PG&E shareholders—a drop in production is a drop in profits—so you might want to call your lawyers. Δ
Mark Henry from San Luis Obispo likes to write about nuclear energy. Send comments for publication
This article appears in Mar 25 – Apr 4, 2021.
Or it may be that they are trying to prevent a nuclear accident by doing required maintenance to remain safe.
Maybe we could use lefty farts as a power source.,.plenty of gas in SLO!!
Battery technology is advancing at a tremendous rate and industry leaders throughout the world have now concluded that renewable energy is financially more viable than non-renewable energy. Thus, there will be a tremendous move toward renewable energy in the coming decade and it would be wise— financially and environmentally— to go with that flow rather than trying to stop the tide.
There may be a future for nuclear energy, but outmoded power plants like the one at Diablo Canyon that produce excessive amounts of radioactive waste are definitely not part of a healthy future for the world. There are currently millions of pounds of toxic radioactive waste being stored at Diablo Canyon under “temporary” conditions that are not considered safe for permanent storage. The complete long-term cost of storage and monitoring of this waste is likely to exceed the value of all the energy the plant will produce. Realize, that the waste at Diablo Canyon will need to be stored and monitored for at least 10,000 years. Notice that officials at Diablo Canyon are hesitant to reveal to the public the annual cost of storing those millions of pounds of vulnerable toxic waste at Diablo. That waste and the way it is being stored, creates a serious risk for every resident of the Central Coast. And the long-term cost of that storage is astronomical. There are plenty of good reasons— including serious liability issues— that PG&E decided that it’s no longer viable to operate that plant.
It should be emphasized that it was PG&E, the owner of the Diablo Canyon power plant, that made the unilateral business decision to shut down the plant in 2025. The plant owners were not ordered to shut the plant down. It’s by their own choice because they have calculated that the plant is no longer a viable business and presents an untold number of serious liability risks and responsibilities the company is eager to escape from. The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is outmoded technology. More efficient, less toxic waste generating and safer designs have been developed. Nowhere in the world will there ever again be built a nuclear power plant with the more-than-half-a-century old technology that Diablo is saddled with. It’s time for the Diablo diehards to get real, let go and move on with the times.
Bullshit ALERT!!! rightword 2 is spewing bullshit. Diablo is being shut down by P.G&E because the state of California was legislating and regulating them out of business. The Anti-nuke crowd has had their “proverbial” panties in a bunch about nuclear since the 70’s, now they run the state. They want solar and wind only. Unless they can find a way to power bongs with bullshit, then they want that too. Nuclear now. Nuclear FOREVER!!! Brownouts are an excuse used by politicians who lack the vision to harness and use ALL THE POWER SOURCES available to us. OIL, NATURAL GAS, NUCLEAR, HYDRO, SOLAR, WIND. We could power the universe forever if we just got over fear and BULLSHIT.
No one ordered PG&E to shut down Diablo. They are doing it because it’s no longer financially viable to operate it safely. Calling something “bullshit“ because you don’t have the facts Or are unwilling to accept the reality does not change anything.
Would anyone care to explain to us the yearly cost of monitoring all the toxic waste at Diablo? Then multiply that by 10,000+ years. I haven’t found anyone associated with PG&E who will even admit to the public how exactly how many millions of pounds of toxic waste are being stored there in minimally secure “temporary” facilities.
It’s not fair to call something “clean energy”, when it leaves us with millions of pounds of toxic waste vulnerable to natural disasters, terrorism and human error.
Hundreds of well-paying jobs will be created in the process of Shutting down and dismantling Diablo Canyon. Nuclear power plant. Then there are all the people who will be paid to monitor its toxic waste for the next 10,000 or more years.