Comment Re:Setback for clean energy (Score 1) 390
Nope. Swedish nuclear has regulatory problems. That's why we have a low capacity factor. But that's not inherent. In fact nuclear has the highest capacity factor of all energy sources. It's the most reliable of all electric energy sources.
And nuclear isn't expensive if you factor in the capacity factor. I have no idea where you get the "they have to be able to ramp down at night" spiel from. If you have any shred of a reference to that I'd like to see it. It's patently untrue. The only way wind, solar, etc. looks cheaper is because of subsidies and not taking capacity factor into account.
And no, it's not because we have hydro that nuclear works for us. Look at France. Plenty of cheap electricity (compared to you and Germany) and they produce 3/4 of their electricity with nuclear. With hydro a very small part.
And hydro electric isn't storage, in that it can't store electricity already generated. Following your argument then an oil or coal fired plant provides for electricity storage, as you can build as large a fuel tank, or coal heap, next to it as you please.
No, it's renewables that are expensive. It's not for nothing that electricity prices are the highest in Germany and Denmark. Germany is more expensive than France, even if you remove taxes and other levies. And the price in Germany is kept down by coal. So, nuclear is not the problem price-wise. Quite the contrary.