China (fastest) can build a 1GW nuclear plant in 50 mnths & Rosatom (cheapest) can build one for $5B.
Masdar are building a 1GW 24/7 solar plus storage plant in UAE for $6B. The project broke ground in Oct '25 & is scheduled to be completed in '27 (25 mnths). This is the costliest & slowest this type of project will ever be.
In high irradiance countries firm solar is already cheap & fastest to power.
In the sunbelt, solar is simply the best option.
@Tallish_Tom
And to get the attention of the worst kind of people, solar is the most profitable option.
I guess that's why the UAE have build a 4 reactor nuclear plant and intent to build more. Combine ingredients to make a dish, don't compare.
Fair, though they might change their plans if this works well for them, power economics in the sunbelt have changed dramatically in the last 3 years.
I doubt they'll stop their ADVANCE program whatever they decide about how many PWRs they want.
And we are only talking about electricity we will need high volume steam for all the current petrochemical and methane derived materials and at high temperatures. Electricity is just the start.
You can generate steam with stored heat generated with electricity.
You can generate industrial heat with electricity.
Industrial thermal heat stores can supply 1700C industrial heat which is enough for pretty much everything.
We just are not doing it much yet.
OTOH a lot of these heat stores are being designed as drop in replacements for FF boilers, so maybe progress will be quick? especially in countries with cheap electricity.
In comparable small volume. With higher stress for the grid, where the problems of capacity already are
@gp5.bsky.social are we still talking about sunbelt countries?
