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Google will buy half the electricity from one of Finland's nuclear power plants

bbc.com

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Re: Google will buy half the electricity from one of Finland's nuclear power plants

#11

Post by echelon »

diggernet wrote: post #7

Oh good. Then Google will be "clean", while countless homes will be getting their power from coal or whatever instead of this nuclear plant.

It's a market. Why can't someone buy it?

Why does it matter that homes "aren't clean" while Google is? That's silly. There's going to be the same level of demand no matter what - the same mix of coal and nuclear inputs will happen regardless of where the outflows are. It's fungible.

More demand will in time result in an increase in supply. That's a good thing. We'll be building a lot more, and it's long overdue.

Re: Google will buy half the electricity from one of Finland's nuclear power plants

#12

Post by johnnyApplePRNG »

diggernet wrote: post #7

Oh good. Then Google will be "clean", while countless homes will be getting their power from coal or whatever instead of this nuclear plant.

Yes let's shame corporations for spending money on and supporting things that need more support. /s

Re: Google will buy half the electricity from one of Finland's nuclear power plants

#16

Post by vlovich123 »

echelon wrote: post #11
diggernet wrote: post #7

Oh good. Then Google will be "clean", while countless homes will be getting their power from coal or whatever instead of this nuclear plant.

It's a market. Why can't someone buy it? Why does it matter that homes "aren't clean" while Google is? That's silly. There's going to be the same level of demand no matter what - the same mix of coal and nuclear inputs will happen regardless of where the outflows are. It's fungible. More demand will in time result in an increase in supply. That's a good thing. We'll be building a lot more, and it's long overdue.

You’re assuming a large enough supply that can absorb demand. This is true in China but not generally in the West.

If supply was just in time constructed so you maybe have only like 10-30% extra vs peak, the 50% of a nuclear power plant shifts the preexisting non-Google demand onto the non-nuclear sources as the plant can no longer meet its non-Google demand. It’s generally no different than if Google acquired that electricity from the available mix rather than the plant directly.

The thing it gives them is the ability to meet their individual net-0 targets (and thus government incentives) - a local optimization at the cost of a global net negative (at least as far as carbon electricity sources goes)

Re: Google will buy half the electricity from one of Finland's nuclear power plants

#17

Post by whall6 »

api wrote: post #2

Far north cool places seem logical for data centers. Not Texas and Arizona. Why?

1. Cheap natural resource 2. Fiber connectivity 3. Low population density 4. Favorable regulatory environment

Depending on how far north you mean, you lose all or all but one of the above.

Re: Google will buy half the electricity from one of Finland's nuclear power plants

#18

Post by fred_is_fred »

seany wrote: post #6
api wrote: post #2

Far north cool places seem logical for data centers. Not Texas and Arizona. Why?

* good access to power (this might not mean the cheapest always, but actually getting to it. * easy permitting * lots of space

North Dakota and Alaska also have lots of space.

Re: Google will buy half the electricity from one of Finland's nuclear power plants

#19

Post by lukeschlather »

echelon wrote: post #11
diggernet wrote: post #7

Oh good. Then Google will be "clean", while countless homes will be getting their power from coal or whatever instead of this nuclear plant.

It's a market. Why can't someone buy it? Why does it matter that homes "aren't clean" while Google is? That's silly. There's going to be the same level of demand no matter what - the same mix of coal and nuclear inputs will happen regardless of where the outflows are. It's fungible. More demand will in time result in an increase in supply. That's a good thing. We'll be building a lot more, and it's long overdue.

Google is buying the output because they are increasing demand by half a nuclear power plant's worth of power. I actually think it's pretty reasonable to pass a law demanding they build an entire nuclear power plant here.

Re: Google will buy half the electricity from one of Finland's nuclear power plants

#20

Post by whall6 »

topato wrote: post #10
seany wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* good access to power (this might not mean the cheapest always, but actually getting to it. * easy permitting * lots of space

Which makes Arizona an interesting place to place any new builds of any sort of data center. They’ve been talking about the scarcity of resources there for years, and it’s currently in an escalating tailspin of abundance. Power is cheap as hell there, but once the water dries up… things might change quickly.

New Gen data centers are closed loop and don’t use water at nearly the same rate as previous generations
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