[jpsb]

Enjoyed both your posts. This no lights at night strikes me a very silly. It's more trouble and expense shutting power plants down then just running them 24/7. Particularly nuke plants. I guess natural gas would the the easiest to turn on and off but I'll bet the boiler will not like that much.

[Pontiac]

Thanks

You are correct no boiler likes any sudden change in operating temperature and pressure. The stresses are huge and can cause ruptured tubes, pipes and occasionally the change in EM fields can cause transformers to explode.

You seem to be well informed. The new gas turbine generators are the best for handling changes in load.

However the newest and most efficient are called Combined Cycle Gas Plant. They link a boiler on to the exhaust of a Gas Turbine Generator. That hot gas exhaust boils water that turns another steam turbine generator. These plants make pretty much the cheapest electric power available.