Live data from Hacker News

The Ute Tribe will construct one of the largest solar farms in the US

ksut.org

121–130 of 302 posts

Re: The Ute Tribe will construct one of the largest solar farms in the US

#121
> US is incredibly slow in building transmission lines, takes decades.

A lot of bitcoin miners use stranded power, which would otherwise go to waste. People often respond to me on HN that the power could be easily/cheaply sent elsewhere for better uses [0]. Comments like this just re-enforce the fact that these people have literally no idea what they are talking about. Thanks, I'll favorite this one. =)

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39317583

Re: The Ute Tribe will construct one of the largest solar farms in the US

#122
> Having said that, we're going to be producing a large amount of power. So I'm not sure that all of it will be able to be consumed within Colorado.”

That’s a surprisingly vague statement on a billion dollar project. I’d expect there would be spreadsheets and models estimating production/consumption locations for decades out and the company would be quoting a percentage figure even if that was a guesstimate.

Re: The Ute Tribe will construct one of the largest solar farms in the US

#123
post #54
post #42

Dang they went out and found 400+ of a rare cactus and avoided building on them? Anyone know how they actually did that survey? Like someone just goes out for days at a time and looks?

Not sure how it went in that specific case but yes, these type of impact studies are usually hands on, you go out into the field with a bunch of people and comb an area completely. In case of a chip factory currently developed by Intel in Germany, they went out onto the 200ha (roughly 280 football fields) and found and resettled 7 rare hamsters. 2 of those had to be dug out: https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen-anh…

That story is one of the weirder stories I've read on Hacker News recently. Cute though:

"The last hamster of the fields gave a timid crow when Alexander Resetaritz drew it out of the construction on his paw and pushed it into the transport box."

Re: The Ute Tribe will construct one of the largest solar farms in the US

#124
post #59
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also for context, the quoted 756MW figure is about 68% of a single AP1000 reactor.

And an AP1000 reactor costs about $6.8 billion to build, and substantially higher operating costs. 68% of the power for 14% of the price seems like a pretty good deal to me, there's a reason people are investing more in solar than nuclear, it's just more cost effective. edit: Oh, and that $6.8 billion looks optimistic. This project with two AP1000s looks like it costs $30 billion. https://www.ans.org/news/article-394…

This doesnt take into account capacity factors. A "800MW" solar plant would be expected to actually product 10-25% of that after day/night and seasons are taken into account. Nuclear plants are more of a 90+% capacity factor.

Re: The Ute Tribe will construct one of the largest solar farms in the US

#125

> US is incredibly slow in building transmission lines, takes decades. A lot of bitcoin miners use stranded power, which would otherwise go to waste. People often respond to me on HN that the power could be easily/cheaply sent elsewhere for better uses [0]. Comments like this just re-enforce the fact that these people have literally no idea what they are talking about. Thanks, I'll favorite this one. =) [0] https://n…

There is no law of nature that says that the pace of US infrastructure improvements should be like that. It's a matter of policy. The US has built impressive projects before at a staggering rate, and they could do so in the future. (currently China is doing the same but on a larger scale. It shows it is possible if you have the political will)

When people say that the power "could" be sent elsewhere, they are right, you just need to build the damn transmission lines. It's not rocket science.

Re: The Ute Tribe will construct one of the largest solar farms in the US

#126
post #59
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also for context, the quoted 756MW figure is about 68% of a single AP1000 reactor.

And an AP1000 reactor costs about $6.8 billion to build, and substantially higher operating costs. 68% of the power for 14% of the price seems like a pretty good deal to me, there's a reason people are investing more in solar than nuclear, it's just more cost effective. edit: Oh, and that $6.8 billion looks optimistic. This project with two AP1000s looks like it costs $30 billion. https://www.ans.org/news/article-394…

When comparing solar to nuclear we also need to include storage and dimensioning to get an equivalent 24/7 output.

This might still make solar cheaper but difference will be smaller than headline numbers.

Re: The Ute Tribe will construct one of the largest solar farms in the US

#127
post #86

Contrast this news with that of LPEA from neighboring Durango area putting a stop to new solar installation due to maxing out energy needs https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/la-plata-electric-put...

Promote electric vehicles, heat pumps, inductive cooktops, and other decarbonization that would increase electricity demand since you've got a plethora of electricity? Nope.

Incentivize home energy storage and invest in grid level energy storage and encourage purchasing EVs that can be used as grid batteries? Nope.

Invest in better grid-level interconnects to export electricity? Nope.

Work with the community to attract industry that uses lots of electricity and approach commercial/industrial users to find ways to decarbonize? Nope.

Ban customers from new grid-intertied solar: YES.

Engage in scare-mongering about solar causing fires and being dangerous or causing grid instability when grid-intertie systems have a slew of safety mechanisms? YES.

Absolute morons.

Also buried in that article: they signed a contract with their wholesale provider mandating that they can only generate 5% of their own electricity. The article claims, but does not explain, how this doesn't limit solar generation - there's a bunch of hand-waiving about how "it doesn't prohibit homeowners from generating solar power."

That contract goes until 2050. Who looked at the electricity market and said "you know what? Let's sign a multi-decade contract, that seems smart!"?

Re: The Ute Tribe will construct one of the largest solar farms in the US

#128
post #59
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also for context, the quoted 756MW figure is about 68% of a single AP1000 reactor.

And an AP1000 reactor costs about $6.8 billion to build, and substantially higher operating costs. 68% of the power for 14% of the price seems like a pretty good deal to me, there's a reason people are investing more in solar than nuclear, it's just more cost effective. edit: Oh, and that $6.8 billion looks optimistic. This project with two AP1000s looks like it costs $30 billion. https://www.ans.org/news/article-394…

When comparing solar to nuclear we also need to include storage and dimensioning to get an equivalent guaranteed 24/7 output.

This might still make solar cheaper but difference will be smaller than headline numbers (and you might retort that for nuclear we then need to include dismantling costs as well).

Re: The Ute Tribe will construct one of the largest solar farms in the US

#129

> US is incredibly slow in building transmission lines, takes decades. A lot of bitcoin miners use stranded power, which would otherwise go to waste. People often respond to me on HN that the power could be easily/cheaply sent elsewhere for better uses [0]. Comments like this just re-enforce the fact that these people have literally no idea what they are talking about. Thanks, I'll favorite this one. =) [0] https://n…

There is no law of nature that says that the pace of US infrastructure improvements should be like that. It's a matter of policy. The US has built impressive projects before at a staggering rate, and they could do so in the future. (currently China is doing the same but on a larger scale. It shows it is possible if you have the political will) When people say that the power "could" be sent elsewhere, they are right,…

I'm referring to the whole picture not just platitudes.

The reality of the situation is that certainly a lot of stuff "could" happen, like Fusion and Nuclear power too.

Re: The Ute Tribe will construct one of the largest solar farms in the US

#130
post #42

Dang they went out and found 400+ of a rare cactus and avoided building on them? Anyone know how they actually did that survey? Like someone just goes out for days at a time and looks?

Satellite/aerial imagery followed by more accurate surveying where necessary.
Post reply on HN