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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

🔌💡 RENEWABLES OR NUCLEAR? This recent @montelnews.bsky.social article rekindled the flames of the everlasting debate about their compatibility and what a decarbonized electricity grid will be like Debunking of common misconceptions, analysis of market data and relevant research; to read in full ⬇️

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worst-case scenario engineer @worstcaseeng.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Ok so, had some time to read the Red Electrica report on the Iberian blackout and now I have a little time for some posts - due to the format and word count issue I'm gonna skip a lot, I'll link a longer form summary I like after. So, uh, 🧵I guess 🔌💡

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Is nuclear unsuited to decarbonize the last 5-10%? Such arguments often: 1) underplay VRE's short-run marginal cost dispatch thresholds 2) misunderstand integration with other resources (not just addition onto the system) 3) understate trade-offs wrt enabling infra (grid AND molecules) #EnergySky 🔌💡

Marginal displacement of other resources' capacity and energy at different levels of nuclear deployment
Source: "Evaluating Advanced Nuclear Fission Technologies for Future Decarbonized Power Grids" by Emilio Cano Renteria, Jacob Schwartz, Jesse Jenkins

Weekly capture rate of solar generation in the Spanish market for selected years
Source: personal elaboration, soon to be made public

Energy cost components in net zero electricity systems with high shares of VRE; system energy capacity and transmission expansion according to different pathways and assumptions
Sources: "Ultra-long-duration energy storage anywhere: Methanol with carbon cycling" by Tom Brown, Johannes Hampp and "The Value of Inter-Regional Coordination and Transmission in Decarbonizing the US Electricity System" by Patrick Brown, Audun Botterud

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

🔌💡 IBERIAN BLACKOUT Since April 28th, some commentators have scrambled to present dubious explanations (inertia, ties with 🇫🇷, etc); after last week's gov & TSO reports, specific conclusions can be drawn and unknown aspects highlighted Full essay below ⬇️ #EnergySky open.substack.com/pub/postnorm...

open.substack.com

Iberian Blackout: root-cause & culpability

How the combined effect of an unexpected event, grid operational dynamics, several non-compliances and not-up-to-date regulations led to system failure

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Chronological summary & recap of main system variations leading up to & during the Iberian blackout For more clarifications, we'll need to wait for the upcoming ENTSO-E investigation's report, but a clearer picture is starting to take form as more data & information become available #EnergySky 🔌💡

Chronology of Iberian blackout according to system categories' variations in subsequent time slots

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Update from 🇪🇸 National Security Council #EnergySky - the first (and bigger) atypical voltage oscillation linked to anomaly in PV farm behaviour - effect worsened by % of networks not responding in accordance with power factor & load-shedding measures (further discharging lines and > reactive input)

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Electricity markets nerds and professionals, any visualizations you'd like to be built or reproduced? Already completed a couple of interest to me, looking for suggestions Thanks to @intermittent.energy for creating and giving me access to an incredibly detailed open-source database #EnergySky 🔌💡

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

Latest update from ENTSO-E regarding the Iberian peninsula blackout, with a more detailed chronology & an ad hoc webpage, which will be updated and modified with new info Final report with comprehensive analysis and recommendations in the upcoming months #EnergySky 🔌💡 www.entsoe.eu/publications...

Preliminary Chronology of Events (ENTSO-E)

Sequence of events leading to the blackout

Sequence of events of the restoration process, pt.1

Sequence of events of the restoration process, pt.2

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Chirag Lala @cthelala.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Supposing it were true that we can’t get buildouts below 10 years, we’d still want to invest in nuclear. We’re gonna need clean firm well into the future. Diversity on the grid is important too. Also arguing against nuclear on time value of money grounds ignores more patient public capital.

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Seaver Wang @wang-seaver.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Local reporting on state officials' remarks has suggested River Bend nuclear power plant "tripped" forcing controlled blackouts in New Orleans on 5/25. Likely inaccurate! NRC documents + grid data show River Bend made a routine shutdown days earlier to check a backup feedwater system leak.

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Andrew Gelston @agelston.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

No grid operators need a fuckload more visibility then they have into what is happening today and then let's add a ton more yes

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Update from Spain's Energy Minister: initial loss in power generation (2.2GW) began in Granada, followed by failures at substations in Seville and Badajoz Investigators seem to have ruled out an imbalance in supply & demand or insufficient grid capacity #EnergySky 🔌💡 www.reuters.com/business/ene...

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

ENTSO-E provides a preliminary chronology on the Iberian blackout. Interesting to note: - oscillations preceded the incident - regarding first loss of gen, no trips observed in Portugal and France - Portuguese plants with black start capability had unsuccessful attempts www.entsoe.eu/news/2025/05...

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Seaver Wang @wang-seaver.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Ketan mocks the inertia chatter re: the Spain outage while misunderstanding inertia. Inertia doesn’t scale with generation output but rather with spinning generator mass. Spain had 4 reactors online, 2 at 70% power, providing inertia equivalent to 4 reactors at full power! More thoughts below.🧵

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Yan Qin @yanqin.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

On 27 April China's State Council approved 10 new reactors, marking the fourth year in a row with at least 10 new approvals. The new reactors are expected to cost 200 billion yuan and will be deployed at 5 sites www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

bloomberg.com

China Approves 10 New Reactors in Nuclear Power Ramp-Up

China’s State Council approved 10 new reactors on Sunday in a vote of confidence for nuclear power to remain central to the nation’s clean energy transition.

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Jacob Mays @jacobmays.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

New working paper, "Operational Uncertainty and the Missing Money." Here we argue that competitive electricity markets probably overcompensate peaking resources relative to those whose production is spread over more hours of the year (e.g., nuclear and hydro) papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

papers.ssrn.com

Operational Uncertainty and the Missing Money Problem

This study investigates how algorithmic choices in power system operations affect the total compensation available to different technologies participating in wh

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Robert Rohde @rarohde.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

It is both true: 1) Fossil fuels made possible unprecedented human prosperity during the last 150 years. 2) Their byproducts are harmful. We've reached a level where we can replace fossil fuels and still ensure human well-being, but some prefer to keep polluting. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/c...

Headline reading "US Energy Secretary Pledges to Reverse Focus on Climate Change"

Subhead: "To applause from oil and gas executives, Chris Wright said natural gas was preferable to renewable energy and climate change was a 'side effect of building the modern world'.

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Alexander C. Kaufman @alexckaufman.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

My first story for @canarymedia.com -- on Holtec's plans to make history twice by restarting the Palisades nuclear plant and expanding it with the nation's first SMRs -- is up and leading the site. Very cool.

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Jay Turner @jayturner.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Investments in US clean energy manufacturing and supply chains have been mixed since 1/20/25. My research students at @wellesley.edu and I are tracking it. Here is what has progressed and what has slowed in wind, solar, EV, and battery sectors after Trump 2.0 + 1 month. 1/4 #energysky

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

🧵 DOES 24/7 ☀️ OBVIATE THE NEED FOR FIRM CAPACITY? The upcoming Abu Dhabi project has sparked much interest, from the claim of baseload power to the relatively low costs to achieve it: what does this mean for system planning, capacity expansion, and grid augmentations? Let’s dive in! #EnergySky 🔌💡

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

NEPA regulations are likely out the door...what does this mean for low-carbon energy deployment? Two articles have recently made me rethink my stance on the issue, although I'd like to know what other stakeholders are wondering #EnergySky ifp.org/potus-ceq-ne... www.greentape.pub/p/the-permit...

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Xiao Wang @xiaowang1984.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

@tylernol4thepain.bsky.social has asked me to write a thread elaborating on some comments I had made to him about the paper via DM to further the discussion on this topic and to bring up some extra nuances that to his credit he put into the introduction of his paper:

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

The annual update to IEA's electricity market report highlights rapid and resurging demand growth across many regions in the next couple of years, boosting consumption to record levels: our global economy is increasingly built on the power grid What are some of the most relevant insights? #EnergySky

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Michael McLean @michaelmclean.me · 14/02/2025

🇧🇪 A nuclear plant will be pre-maturely shut down today in Belgium. The new Belgian government is working to reverse their nuclear phaseout, but the turnaround didnt happen in time to save this plant (yet). The plant is owned by a French gas company. 🔌💡 www.brusselstimes.com/1443731/fina...

brusselstimes.com

Final shutdown of Doel 1 nuclear reactor today

After exactly 50 years of electricity production, the plug will be pulled from Belgium's oldest nuclear reactor at around 21:45 on Friday.

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Overview of popular arguments regarding new nuclear projects: - negative learning❌ stop-start approach✅ - unwarranted skepticism about cost & schedule reductions from a fleet strategy (not if, how much) - consortiums to finance and reduce risk exposure remain key #EnergySky bsky.app/profile/bari...

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Yan Qin @yanqin.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

‼️China released a landmark policy on market-oriented reform of Renewables tariff This marks one giant step forward for Renewables support policies, moving from subsidies/guaranteed purchase to market-based tools #energysky 'Price Settlement Mechanism for RE Sustainable Development'

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Clean Air Task Force @cleanaircatf.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

NEW multi-state consortium will drive #nuclear energy deployment in the U.S. – providing clean, reliable, and affordable electricity needed to meet growing electricity demands. www.catf.us/2025/02/new-...

catf.us

New York leads multi-state consortium to drive nuclear energy deployment and support state clean energy goals

The National Association of State Energy Officials announced a multi-state initiative to accelerate advanced nuclear energy projects.

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 07/02/2025

Where are coal plants planning to retire in the USA? Which are pulling back from planned retirement as demand grows, which are accelerating, and which are likely to stick around for the long-haul without further policy development? The NYTimes has a good breakdown www.nytimes.com/interactive/... 🔌💡

A map and graphic showing active coal-fired power plants across the United States by state, with plants planning to retire indicated via color code.

A graphic showing how coal-fired power plant capacity has evolved over time in the United States since 2000, including projections to 2050 based on current planned retirements.

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Open Circuit Podcast @open-circuit.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

As clean energy faces its biggest test yet, @jigarshahdc.bsky.social, @cleangridview.bsky.social, and @stephenlacey.bsky.social are reuniting for their newest project: Open Circuit. 🧵 (1/5)

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Claire Wayner @cwayner.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Thanks @jeffstjohn.bsky.social for the coverage of my Mind the Regulatory Gap report in @canarymedia.com today. Exciting to see the report and the critical issue of lack of oversight on local transmission continue to gain traction! #EnergySky 💡🔌 www.canarymedia.com/articles/tra...

canarymedia.com

Want larger transmission lines? Fix this regulatory gap, experts say.

Utilities are opting to build small transmission projects with less oversight instead of big ones, and consumers are paying the price, according to a…

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Andrew Gelston @agelston.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

It's very important to remember that these massive transmission projects for new load/reliability in ERCOT (and generally) do not REDUCE congestion significantly. In this cause, only about 5% the annual congestion cost is eliminated for $33b They simple enable load operations other impossible

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Jaap Burger @jaapburger.eu · 23/01/2025

The Nordic Transmission System Operators (🇳🇴🇫🇮🇸🇪🇩🇰) have changed the calculation method to flow based. Modelled to increase capacity on the existing grid by +10%, experience from the first three months shows +20%. Within the existing infrastructure, that's a huge plus. energinet.dk/om-nyheder/n...

New method better utilises grid capacity
Published D. 23.1.2025 10.51

Three months have now passed since Energinet went live with a new capacity calculation method. The method was developed in a Nordic collaboration and makes it possible to transport more electricity from north to south. For Denmark, this can result in lower electricity prices because more of the cheap electricity from hydropower in Norway and Sweden can be transported southwards;

The method for capacity calculations in the existing electricity market has been developed in collaboration with Statnett, Fingrid, Svenska Kraftnät and Nordic RCC and has been dubbed Flowbased. In short, the method is a new dynamic way of calculating the grid's ability to transport power. This means that the grid can constantly be utilised better and closer to the physical limits of how much overhead lines, underground cables, etc. can transport.

"Using Flowbased capacity modelling, we can now send more power through the existing grid, from the northern part of the Nordic region to the southern part, including Denmark. The model calculations showed in advance that Flowbased could allow up to 10 percent more, but the first two months of operation of Flowbased have shown up to 20 percent more capacity utilisation," says Rikke Bjerregaard Jørgensen, Senior Economist at Market Coupling and Transparency.

Map of northern Europe shows the various bidding zones, large green arrows pointing from north to south, +20%

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Glen Peters @glenpeters.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

How have emissions scenarios changed in the last 10 years? Has mitigation actually become easier, as costs of key technologies have declined? I write more about it on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/pulse/has-cl... Or go check out the main article: rdcu.be/d7cUB

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Nothing is 100% reliable, not even grids unfortunately...a couple points to underline: - average analyses are limited, especially when combining W&S without delivery constraints or storage requirements - planned unavailability/load-following wrt demand isn't the same as forced outages #EnergySky 🔌💡

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Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 16/01/2025

Now expanded in blog form You get a cool 1k extra words on ERCOT's battery landscape and a few new figures, like this one with the cumulative hours of price-setting in ancillary services by resource since 2018. #energysky blog.gridstatus.io/batteries-er...

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International Energy Agency @iea.org · 16/01/2025

Our report on the Path to a New Era for Nuclear Energy is out now! 🚨 It shows nuclear power is set to hit a new record in 2025, bringing benefits for energy security. Addressing costs, project overruns & financing can enable even faster growth ahead. Read more 👉 iea.li/42li9zj

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Shanu Mathew @shanumathew.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

Power distortions plague US grid near data centers: 75% of poor readings within 50mi of facilities. Centers rapidly appearing near cities strain fragile infrastructure, with rural areas also affected.

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sylvain gignac @sylvaingignac.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

Standard allows legacy IBRs (those in operation before the standard's implementation) to request exemptions from frequency and voltage Ride-through requirements if compliance would require hardware changes. To detail exemption and impacts on Ride-through reliability.🔌💡 www.ferc.gov/news-events/...

ferc.gov

FERC Proposes to Approve First Standards to Protect Grid for Clean Energy Transition

Item E-10 | Docket No. RM25-3 FERC today proposed to approve the first of an expected suite of new reliability standards to protect the grid as the nation makes the transition to expanded use of clean...

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

This is unfortunate, but mostly sad, from an account that regularly posts on #EnergySky about many developments in the transition, influencing the perceptions of many new users Faulty reasoning and erroneous deduction on current + past events won't lead to feasible solutions bsky.app/profile/bari...

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Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 23/12/2024

Despite this stunning rise, Ancillary Service capacity has a limit After years of ancillary service capacity awards dominating gross day-ahead revenue, scheduled energy has quickly grown in the latter half of 2024.

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Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 23/12/2024

Batteries are reshaping ERCOT’s ancillary services procurement Battery generation capacity has made up 50%+ of awards for reg up and responsive reserves since 2022. In these, coal and gas regularly account for <20% of capacity. #energysky 🔌💡

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Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

The biggest obstacles to US decarbonization, according to outgoing Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm: 1. It’s too hard to connect new renewables to the grid due to lack of transmission 2. Not enough investment in 24/7 clean “baseload” power, like nuclear & geothermal heatmap.news/podcast/shif...

Meyer: After four years at the nerve center of decarbonization in the government, what do you think is the biggest obstacle to decarbonization, and to doing the energy transition?

Granholm: I think right now, I mean, I would say the most immediate big obstacle is that we have 3.7 terawatts of clean energy waiting to get into the queue, to be, build out that generation from the transmission point of view. If I could tackle one thing, one thing quickly, it would be the interconnection queues.

Meyer: Wow. And so you would be willing to pay, you would be willing to make other concessions to handle transmission?

Granholm: I would be. And then the, I would, there’s one other thing I would say, is, I would want to invest much more in baseload power, baseload clean power. So bigger investment in geothermal, bigger investment in hydroelectric — even distributed hydroelectric, you know, making dams where they don’t already exist, stuff like that that really are … you know, I believe nuclear is a really important part of the clean energy future. And those nuclear reactors, small modular reactors, I think are really important. I’d continue to invest in them. I would also continue to invest in fusion.

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Connor @waldoch.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

- been waiting for RRA numbers, really curious where storage+solar actuals end up - winter battery accreditation swings - something similar from us soon - 50 GW 1hr ramps in '30: more than a normal CAISO, it's a peak NYISO plus near-peak ISO-NE, it's around a peak SPP, it's a lot #energysky

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Although not necessarily less capital-intensive, EGS's lower commercial liftoff requirements are one the reasons why I'm bullish on its expansion (not as much as others) IMO, pace and scale might be the most important aspects regarding the value proposition wrt clean firm competitors #EnergySky 🔌💡

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Post Normal Times @barinemiliano.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

A couple of comments on Italy's FER-X decree temporary support-scheme: - PVs are almost 3/4 of total capacity (17.65GW) - real value likely higher (estimate based on current prices, dominated by gas as the marginal gen) - in case of curtailment, tariff applies to potential production #EnergySky 🔌💡

ec.europa.eu

Commission approves an Italian State aid scheme to support renewable electricity production to foster the transition to a net-zero economy

The European Commission has approved an estimated €9.7 billion Italian scheme to support electricity production from renewable energy sources to foster the transition towards a net-zero economy. The s

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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 19/12/2024

Cost is nuclear's central challenge, not waste. That said, for the price we are now paying for offshore wind in NJ (or ~1/2 what we pay for rooftop solar), we could probably order four AP1000s and get them done well before 2035 at a lower levelized cost (while producing more valuable energy).🤔

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Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 18/12/2024

As Solar Grows, Risk & Volatility Shift to Ramps & Net Load Peak Record days in ERCOT and CAISO illustrate the potential for volatility as solar ramps down and higher priced resources are dispatched.

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Grid Status @gridstatus.io · 18/12/2024

Nationally, solar contributed nearly 10% on average to peak daily load across the year. This is nearly double the average in 2021. At a national level, the diversity of project locations means that fewer and fewer days go by without some solar meeting a portion of peak demand.

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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 18/12/2024

The findings of this study mean that the extra cost all of us bear from the impacts of climate change for every gallon of gasoline is at least another $2.80/gallon. Bike lanes and e-bike incentives are cheap, comparatively. 🔌💡

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