Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Many arguments lie ahead on what kind of power-generating equipment should be built next. If the choice is nuclear, coal or some types of renewable energy, space will not be a problem, according to a new study sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit utility consortium. There are also lots of places to put plants that will store energy in the form of compressed air, researchers report.

The study, carried out by the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, found locations for 515 gigawatts’ worth of new nuclear plants — nearly five times what exists now — based on considerations like the availability of cooling water and relatively low population density. There is also space for 168 gigawatts of “advanced coal” plants. Should the plants be designed to sequester the carbon dioxide they produce rather than emit it, however, the study did not factor in how far the carbon would have to be piped.

But potential locations for solar thermal plants, which use the sun’s heat to make steam and then electricity, are far more limited; if the plants are cooled by water, there is space for only about 18 gigawatts, the study said. If the plants are cooled by air, which reduces their efficiency, there would be space for 60 gigawatts, the authors found.

The researchers divided the lower 48 states into squares measuring 100 meters on each side and analyzed each (nearly 700 million of them) for various characteristics related to each technology. They did not take into account the distance from the existing power grid, however.



Sites for power plants are currently generally chosen by local utilities or companies that specialize in plant construction. But Francisco de la Chesnaye, the manager of the research institute’s Energy and Environment Analysis program, said the study could prove useful in national strategic planning, including decisions on how much adapt the power system to achieve environmental goals like cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The findings could also help planners make “prudent use of natural resources, particularly water,” he said.

An earlier version of this post misstated the amount of power that could be produced by a solar thermal plant cooled by air at optimal sites surveyed in the United States. It is 60 gigawatts, not megawatts.