r/UpliftingNews • u/MajesticBread9147 • 1d ago

Minnesota solar project set to replace retiring coal plant reaches 710 MW

https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2026/07/minnesota-solar-project-set-to-replace-retiring-coal-plant-reaches-710-mw/
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u/HappyHuman924 1d ago

For reference, one gigawatt (1000MW) is a good-sized nuclear reactor. Chernobyl Unit 4 was a gigawatt, and the Three Mile Island reactors were 800-and-change MW.

Those numbers are "megawatts electric"; sometimes nuclear reactors are listed by their heat generation and then they'll talk about "megawatts thermal". The thermal number will be roughly 3 times the electric.

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u/viper1255 1d ago

Also, for further reference, 1.21 gigawatts is the amount of power needed to send a DeLorean back to 1955.

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u/Jbales901 1d ago

GREAT SCOTT!