Base load power plant
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A base load power plant is one that provides a steady flow of power regardless of total power demand by the grid. These plants run at all times through the year except in the case of repairs or scheduled maintenance.
Power plants are designated base load based on their low cost generation, efficiency and safety at set outputs. Baseload power plants do not change production to match power consumption demands since it is always cheaper to run them rather than running high cost combined cycle plants or combustion turbines. Typically these plants are large enough to provide a majority of the power used by a grid, making them slow to fire up and cool down. Thus, they are more effective when used continuously to cover the power baseload required by the grid.
Each base load power plant on a grid is allotted a specific amount of the baseload power demand to handle. The base load power is determined by the load duration curve of the system. For a typical power system, rule of thumb states that the base load power is usually 35-40% of the maximum load during the year.
Fluctuations, peaks or spikes in customer power demand are handled by smaller and more responsive types of power plants.
[edit] Typical power plant usage
Nuclear and coal power plants may take many hours, if not days, to achieve a steady state power output. On the other hand, they have low fuel costs. Since they require a long period of time to heat up to operating temperature, these plants typically handle large amounts of the baseload demand.
Gas and oil power plants are much faster to start, but have less output capacity. These plants are typically scheduled to handle peak power demands since they can be ready to supply power in about 30 minutes or less. They are more expensive to operate than coal power plants.
Hydro-electric is the fastest to respond to increasing power demands, reaching full power in about two to three minutes. These plants can provide both base load and peak load demands for power, at a relatively low cost but are limited by the amount of water available.
