This post is part of my ongoing study of NET Power. It looks at competing Electricity Generation Technologies.
NP claim that theirs is the only current technology that will deliver Low Cost, Clean and Reliable electricity at scale. NP call
the initial three items a Trifecta. The forth item I have called Scale(essentially the possibilities for wide deployment).
Here I look at each case under the various headings:
The table is something of a work in progress. I will update it as and when I obtain further reliable data.
Notes
- A Netpower plant using coal gasification has been proposed but at present the Gas option is easier and perhaps cheaper.
- CCGT with PCC not as efficient as a Netpower plant.
- Wind is supposedly a cheap option but this is widely disputed.
- Wind and Solar with adequate storage are not cheap options.
- Hydro is great but is difficult to deploy further at scale. Most of the good sites already used.
- Drax uses Biomass however I think there are better options for its use.
- Biogas is interesting but may not be widely available. It could be used to run a Netpower plant. In the US there are plentiful RNG sites .
- Big Nuclear.Its not cheap and takes years and years to build. Uranium Prices have increased significantly recently . Major cost of these plants however is Capital and Financial.
- SMR .Very few operating(one in Russia as far as I know) , Many competing designs. Pick a winner! Undoubtedly capital costs could be reduced by serious mass production. However I think we are still in the pick a winner zone.Long term this looks to be the way to go but the winners may not be obvious for the next 20 or 30 years. Also Co2 as a working fluid ( not water) looks promising. Therefore maybe another market for Np licencees.
- Gas NetPower. Appears to be the winner. Low cost. Clean and Reliable. The first Utility scale plant due for completion in 2026.
- Gas CCGT Cheap and widely used. No Co2 capture
- On Geothermal I need further data. I think there would be limited sites for deployment.
