: the amount of power made available by an energy producer (such as a power plant) to meet fundamental demands by consumers
—often used before another noun
baseload power
Wind and solar have the drag of unreliability. Unless attached to costly batteries they are useless for meeting baseload demand.—
Jonathan Fahey
Jonathan Fahey
Examples of baseload in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Given current technologies, the presumption that renewables can entirely replace coal’s baseload power is a fantasy.
—William F. Shughart Ii, Fortune, 17 Nov. 2023
Most experts agree that baseload power that can be turned on 24/7 is necessary moving forward.
—WIRED, 3 Aug. 2023
Only alternative bridge-energy solutions such as liquified natural gas (LNG), nuclear, and alternative suppliers such as Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa will help increase baseload production and enable Europe to survive the bad winter that is coming.
—Ariel Cohen, Forbes, 18 July 2022
In that scenario, with BECCS providing carbon-negative baseload power to complement solar, wind, hydropower and other renewable installations, overall emissions from the Western N.A. grid come in at -135 megatons of CO2 per year.
—IEEE Spectrum, 18 Feb. 2015
Energy storage would have to cost $10 to $20/kWh for a wind-solar mix with storage to be competitive with a nuclear power plant providing baseload electricity.
—IEEE Spectrum, 16 Sep. 2019
But what this bill does not do is anything to mandate or incentivize the construction of additional reserve baseload power generating capacity in the Texas market.
—David Blackmon, Forbes, 19 May 2021
The intermittency of growing renewable capacity also means that there is an increase in for balancing by a stable and dispatchable baseload such as coal or natural gas.
—Baker Institute, Forbes, 26 Apr. 2022
Together with climate modeler James Hansen of Columbia University's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Socolow emphasized that only nuclear energy can provide baseload electricity as a substitute for fossil fuels.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 Mar. 2023
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William F. Shughart Ii, Fortune, 17 Nov. 2023
Most experts agree that baseload power that can be turned on 24/7 is necessary moving forward.
—WIRED, 3 Aug. 2023
Only alternative bridge-energy solutions such as liquified natural gas (LNG), nuclear, and alternative suppliers such as Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa will help increase baseload production and enable Europe to survive the bad winter that is coming.
—Ariel Cohen, Forbes, 18 July 2022
In that scenario, with BECCS providing carbon-negative baseload power to complement solar, wind, hydropower and other renewable installations, overall emissions from the Western N.A. grid come in at -135 megatons of CO2 per year.
—IEEE Spectrum, 18 Feb. 2015
Energy storage would have to cost $10 to $20/kWh for a wind-solar mix with storage to be competitive with a nuclear power plant providing baseload electricity.
—IEEE Spectrum, 16 Sep. 2019
But what this bill does not do is anything to mandate or incentivize the construction of additional reserve baseload power generating capacity in the Texas market.
—David Blackmon, Forbes, 19 May 2021
The intermittency of growing renewable capacity also means that there is an increase in for balancing by a stable and dispatchable baseload such as coal or natural gas.
—Baker Institute, Forbes, 26 Apr. 2022
Together with climate modeler James Hansen of Columbia University's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Socolow emphasized that only nuclear energy can provide baseload electricity as a substitute for fossil fuels.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 Mar. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'baseload.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
First Known Use
1907, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near baseload
Cite this Entry
“Baseload.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/baseload. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.
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