TY - JOUR
T1 - Flexibility of scale in large conventional coal-fired power plants
AU - Schroeder, Christopher H.
AU - Wiggins, Lyna L.
AU - Wormhoudt, Daniel T.
N1 - Funding Information:
The research reported in this article was conducted with the financiasl upporto f the US Departmento f Energy, grant No EY 76-S-03-0034-PA284.
PY - 1981/6
Y1 - 1981/6
N2 - The distinction between large, conventional coal-fired power plants composed of large units (800-1300 MW) and large plants composed of small units (400-600 MW) has not been appreciated in the literature, yet it is significant. It is the central contention of this paper that the construction of large plants (1500-5000 MW) composed of small units yields the benefits associated with the various scale economies of large plants per se. These include economic, environmental, reliability and social factors. We argue that our proposal - a large plant/small unit configuration - has, in addition to scale economies, advantages of flexibility in generation and system planning. It is further suggested that the need for power review and the assessment of alternative generating technologies take place in hearings separate from those related to site-specific issues. In approving a site, we argue that acceptability, not absolute superiority, is the standard against which sites should be judged.
AB - The distinction between large, conventional coal-fired power plants composed of large units (800-1300 MW) and large plants composed of small units (400-600 MW) has not been appreciated in the literature, yet it is significant. It is the central contention of this paper that the construction of large plants (1500-5000 MW) composed of small units yields the benefits associated with the various scale economies of large plants per se. These include economic, environmental, reliability and social factors. We argue that our proposal - a large plant/small unit configuration - has, in addition to scale economies, advantages of flexibility in generation and system planning. It is further suggested that the need for power review and the assessment of alternative generating technologies take place in hearings separate from those related to site-specific issues. In approving a site, we argue that acceptability, not absolute superiority, is the standard against which sites should be judged.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/0019368357
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/0019368357#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1016/0301-4215(81)90175-0
DO - 10.1016/0301-4215(81)90175-0
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0019368357
SN - 0301-4215
VL - 9
SP - 127
EP - 135
JO - Energy Policy
JF - Energy Policy
IS - 2
ER -