French Nuclear: End of the Line?

By Kennedy Maize -- January 15, 2025

“Construction of the advanced ‘European Pressurized Reactor’ (EPR) at Flamanville began in 2007. It was projected to come into service in 2012 at a cost of $3.4 billion. The final cost, according to (Électricité de France) is about $13.7 billion.”

Last month (December 21), the 1,600-MW Flamanville nuclear power plant near Normandy (below) began delivering electricity to the French and European grid. It became the first new unit in France’s once-aggressive nuclear power program since 1996. The new reactor becomes the 57^th in the French fleet.

EDF (Électricité de France) the French state-owned electric utility, was once seen as at the forefront of nuclear power, ahead in many ways of even the U.S., which has had its own troubles moving beyond its initial nuclear boom times. No more.

Construction of the advanced “European Pressurized Reactor” or EPR at Flamanville began in 2007.…

Negative Pricing in California (surplus solar at work)

By Kennedy Maize -- January 8, 2025

“The solar excess contributes to electricity rates in California that are the highest in the continental United States. Only Hawaii has higher electricity rates, a function of its isolation and need to import fuels for power generation.”

Has California’s enthusiasm for solar power gone too far? That question is being asked as the state is curtailing large amounts of solar generation and paying other states to take the Golden State’s solar excess.

The Los Angeles Times (November 24, 2024) reported:

In the last 12 months, California’s solar farms have curtailed production of more than 3 million megawatt hours of solar energy, either on the orders of the state’s grid operator or because prices had plummeted because of the glut, according to an analysis of data by The Times.

Data from the state’s grid operator, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), shows that curtailments of solar generation, because the conventional market for power in the state was less than was being generated and electric storage capacity was full, have doubled compared to 2021.…

COP29 Preview: Hot Talk vs. Reality

By Kennedy Maize -- November 12, 2024

“What to expect from COP 29 in Baku come November? In the words of the great American philosopher Lawrence “Yogi” Berra: ‘It’s like déjà vu all over again’.”

Remember COP28? Forget about it. Most everybody else has. This is COP29, Nov. 11-24, 2024, the 29th annual international greenwashing gabfest about the world’s promised actions to deal with a climate being changed by man-made global warming. Most of those meetings have had little real impact, generating more heat, rancor, posturing, and light — and sometimes state-sponsored repression — than measurable movement toward significant reductions in emissions of greenhouse gasses, primarily carbon dioxide (CO2).

The formal title of these highly-hyped, frequently ignored, sometimes entertaining gatherings is the “United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,” with the inevitable acronym of UNFCC. The selection of Azerbaijan to host the meeting is significant.…