First - this from the UK Guardian:
Chernobyl could be reinvented as a solar farm, says Ukraine
The contaminated nuclear wasteland around Chernobyl could be turned into one of the world’s largest solar farms, producing nearly a third of the electricity that the stricken plant generated at its height 30 years ago, according to the Ukrainian government.
And a bit more:
The Ukrainian government said more than 1,000MW of solar and 400MW of other renewable energy could be generated. The nuclear plant had an installed capacity of around 4,000MW.
The advantage of generating renewable power at the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident is that the land is cheap and plentiful, and the sunshine is as strong as in southern Germany. In addition, the grid infrastructure and high-voltage power lines needed to transmit electricity to the national grid remain intact, the presentation added.
Where to start... The installed power infrastructure is a good thing but that equipment has been sitting idle for 30 years and I bet that preventive maintenance has been performed on a regular schedule - NOT!
The thing that really gets me is that Chernobyl is at 51° Longitude - it is far to the North. The middle of Vancouver Island, BC is at 51°. The amount of sunlight is greatly attenuated at those high longitudes. There is a longer daylight during summer but much of it is coming in at a low angle and the energy is absorbed in the atmosphere. There is essentially no useful sunlight during the winter months. As for this comment: "the sunshine is as strong as in southern Germany" - this is a crock of s*it - Munich is in southern Germany and sits at 48.1° Longitude - about the same as Seattle, WA. Those few degrees make a very big difference.
If Ukraine was really serious about this (and not just wanting to hoover up the big bucks from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)), they should locate their plant near the city of Odessa which sits at a much better 46.4° Longitude.
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