The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) released a report on Thursday, detailing the size and space requirements for the different forms of generating renewable energy.
The “Land Requirements for Carbon-Free Technologies” states that nuclear energy has the most efficient land space requirement to output ratio, compared to wind and solar energy. They state that 1.3 square miles is all nuclear generation needs to be able to produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity with a capacity factor of 890 percent. According to the report, wind would need between 260 and 360 square miles to reach the same output based on capacity factors ranging between 32 and 47 percent. Solar energy requires space ranging from 45 to 75 square miles dependant on capacities of 17 to 28 percent.
Square mile and capacity values were determined based on averages of nuclear plants. For the measurements, average was taken from current estimates of the capacity of current facilities of these kinds. Capacity limitations for both forms of energy generation would require that the installed capacity would need to be as high as 2,800 megawatts for wind farms and up to 5,400 megawatts for solar panel facilities.
The report states that there are no current wind or solar facilities that are large enough to be able to match the output of nuclear generation.
