Can offshore wind farms replace the reliable electricity generated by Diablo Canyon Power Plant?
Though advocates claim offshore wind farms are capable of replacing the carbon-free, reliable power provided by nuclear plants, practical experience shows fossil fuel plants must step in to supplement their output, or even substitute for them, during periods of extended calm.
Opposition is also increasing from seaside residents, many of whom view the turbines as an intrusion of their ocean view. Moreover, the farms bring a host of construction- and maintenance-related ship traffic, which is blamed for increasing impacts on whales and other sea life.
Recently we sat down with Nicole Dorfman of REACT Alliance, a group which seeks to stop development of 3 separate wind farms occupying a 370–square mile area off the seaside community of Avila Beach, where many of its REACT’s members live.
Fission Transition is working to:
• Extend to nuclear plant owners the same economic incentives offered to wind and solar farms for their clean power.
• Create a level playing field for clean energy by ending CAISO’s wholesale market trading rule which assigns to wind and solar resources a preferential place in its “loading order”.
• Eliminate the awarding of tradeable Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), which can be sold to fossil fuel generators to evade responsibility for the CO2 impacts of their energy.
• Promote funding for Gen-4 (fourth generation) reactor development in California to help the state regain its lead in clean energy.
• Inform legislators and the public of the many benefits of nuclear energy: its safety, its cost-competitiveness, and small land-use and wildlife impacts.
• Work with local communities with municipal power (Sacramento, Alameda, Burbank, Glendale, others) to investigate the possibilities of de-carbonizing with small-modular or microreactors.
WATCH: CA Gov. Gavin Newsom minces no words when asked what could have happened during a record 2022 heat wave if Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant had not been online
EYTAN WALLACE: What do you think could have happened last week if we did not have Diablo Canyon?
NEWSOM: Well, if we didn’t have that 9 percent of the baseload, it was about 9% of the baseload electricity in the State of California, there’s no doubt. We would have blown past…we would have absolutely triggered into what we call load reduction, otherwise referred to as blackouts. Unquestionably, if we didn’t have Diablo.
“Period…full stop. That’s not even in debate, or dispute.”
We first met then-Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom at an October, 2016 Community Climate Action Summit in Santa Monica, CA. The event featured numerous vendors selling electric vehicles, solar panels, and other renewable paraphernalia, as well as a lineup of speakers in the facility’s auditorium.
Newsom was one of those speakers. After describing how California would be gearing up for its renewable “energy transition”, he asked for questions from the audience. Bill Gloege of Californians for Green Nuclear Power was first on his feet.
“Why no mention of nuclear energy?”, he asked. “It’s carbon-free, and California’s biggest source of clean energy.”
Cue pin-drop.
After a moment, Newsom found his voice. “Well, it’s true that nuclear energy creates no emissions, and I suppose California might consider it at some point in the future. But I know I’ll be sleeping easier after Diablo Canyon is shut down in 2025.”
Fast-forward to September 2022, when record electricity consumption nearly took down California’s grid, apparently Newsom had an epiphany. After realizing how important safe, reliable nuclear energy was to his state’s electricity customers and the environment, he ordered the plant to remain open through 2030. We’re glad he did. – CW
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