> "So a coal power station with high base-load capacity will place low bids for the majority of its capacity, to ensure that it gets picked first when demand is being met. It costs a lot of money to turn a station like that off, so they price their bids accordingly"
Nuclear puts in bids of zero since adjusting the power output of those is difficult. Coal is quite flexible once the turbines are running so can be used to deal with upcoming demand (ie if you realise that you need more generation in 30mins time) - apparently this is because they run most efficiently at 70% of max output. Gas generation/stations are most efficient at 90-something-percent of max output, so they have less short-term flexibility than coal. Hydroelectric storage is the quickest to respond but also the most expensive (generation within minutes - some folks I knew called it the 'emergency button' :).
That's all random stuff I learnt years ago over a summer in the industry.
> "So a coal power station with high base-load capacity will place low bids for the majority of its capacity, to ensure that it gets picked first when demand is being met. It costs a lot of money to turn a station like that off, so they price their bids accordingly"
Nuclear puts in bids of zero since adjusting the power output of those is difficult. Coal is quite flexible once the turbines are running so can be used to deal with upcoming demand (ie if you realise that you need more generation in 30mins time) - apparently this is because they run most efficiently at 70% of max output. Gas generation/stations are most efficient at 90-something-percent of max output, so they have less short-term flexibility than coal. Hydroelectric storage is the quickest to respond but also the most expensive (generation within minutes - some folks I knew called it the 'emergency button' :).
That's all random stuff I learnt years ago over a summer in the industry.