Background: I live within the US Federal Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a regional electric grid operator. The majority of energy is generated by nuclear + renewables, with coal and natural gas as peakers. Grid stability is maintained by among the largest batteries in the world, Racoon Mountain Pumped Storage Facility.
Three Gorges Dam is capable of generating more power than all of TVA's nuclear + hydro, combined. In the past decade, TVA's single pumped-storage battery has gone from largest GWh/capcity in the world to not even top ten — largest facilities are now in China.
µFission reactors have recently been approved for TVA commissioning, with locations unconfirmed (but about one-sixth the output of typical TVA nuclear site). Sub-station battery storage sites are beginning to go online, capable of running subdivisions for hours after circuit disconnects.
Tech-funded entities like Helios Energy are promising profitable ¡FusioN! within a few years ("for fifty years").
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All of the above just to say: +100GW over the next decade isn't that crazy a prediction (+20% current supply, similar in size to two additional Texas-es).
Three Gorges Dam is capable of generating more power than all of TVA's nuclear + hydro, combined. In the past decade, TVA's single pumped-storage battery has gone from largest GWh/capcity in the world to not even top ten — largest facilities are now in China.
µFission reactors have recently been approved for TVA commissioning, with locations unconfirmed (but about one-sixth the output of typical TVA nuclear site). Sub-station battery storage sites are beginning to go online, capable of running subdivisions for hours after circuit disconnects.
Tech-funded entities like Helios Energy are promising profitable ¡FusioN! within a few years ("for fifty years").
----
All of the above just to say: +100GW over the next decade isn't that crazy a prediction (+20% current supply, similar in size to two additional Texas-es).
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/gridmonitor/dashboard/electr...