France produces ~75% of their electricity from nuclear. Nuclear plants have a gigantic time constant (i.e. not able to quickly make changes to power production unlike gas/coal plants). However, the power production for France increases and decreases quite rapidly (roughly +/-30%).
How does France allow for this? There's not enough gas/coal/hydro to account for the swings. Do they have large-scale energy storage they can draw from?
How does France allow for this? There's not enough gas/coal/hydro to account for the swings. Do they have large-scale energy storage they can draw from?