Base load

[[Regional transmission organization (North America)|Grid operators]] take [[Electricity_market#Bid-based,_security-constrained,_economic_dispatch_with_nodal_prices|long and short term bids]] to provide electricity over various time periods and [[Grid balancing|balance supply and demand]] continuously.<ref name=”ibrd”>{{Cite book |url=http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2011/08/18/000356161_20110818032547/Rendered/PDF/638750PUB0Exto00Box0361531B0PUBLIC0.pdf |title=Electricity Auctions: An Overview of Efficient Practices |last=Maurer |first=Luiz T.A., Luiz A. Barroso |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-8213-8822-8}}</ref> The detailed adjustments are known as the [[unit commitment problem in electrical power production]].

[[Regional transmission organization (North America)|Grid operators]] take [[Electricity_market#Bid-based,_security-constrained,_economic_dispatch_with_nodal_prices|long and short term bids]] to provide electricity over various time periods and [[Grid balancing|balance supply and demand]] continuously.<ref name=”ibrd”>{{Cite book |url=http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2011/08/18/000356161_20110818032547/Rendered/PDF/638750PUB0Exto00Box0361531B0PUBLIC0.pdf |title=Electricity Auctions: An Overview of Efficient Practices |last=Maurer |first=Luiz T.A., Luiz A. Barroso |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-8213-8822-8}}</ref> The detailed adjustments are known as the [[unit commitment problem in electrical power production]].

While historically large power grids used unvarying power plants to meet the base load, there is no specific technical requirement for this to be so. The base load can equally well be met by the appropriate quantity of [[intermittent power source]]s and [[dispatchable generation]].<ref name=”pembina”>{{Cite web |url=http://pubs.pembina.org/reports/TheBasicsOnBaseload.pdf |title=The Basics on Base Load: Meeting Ontario’s Base Load Electricity Demand with Renewable Power Sources |last=Peters |first=Roger, Cherise Burda |date=2007-09-01 |website=Pembina Institute |access-date=2018-05-16}}</ref><ref name=”stanford”>{{Cite journal |last=Archer |first=Cristina L. |last2=Jacobson |first2=Mark Z. |date=November 2007 |title=Supplying Baseload Power and Reducing Transmission Requirements by Interconnecting Wind Farms |journal=Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology |language=EN |volume=46 |issue=11 |pages=1701–1717 |doi=10.1175/2007jamc1538.1 |issn=1558-8424|citeseerx=10.1.1.475.4620 }}</ref>

While historically large power grids used unvarying power plants to meet the base load, there is no specific technical requirement for this to be so. The base load can equally well be met by the appropriate quantity of [[intermittent power source]]s and [[dispatchable generation]].<ref name=”pembina”>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pembina.org/reports/TheBasicsOnBaseload.pdf |title=The Basics on Base Load: Meeting Ontario’s Base Load Electricity Demand with Renewable Power Sources |last=Peters |first=Roger, Cherise Burda |date=2007-09-01 |website=Pembina Institute |access-date=2018-05-16}}</ref><ref name=”stanford”>{{Cite journal |last=Archer |first=Cristina L. |last2=Jacobson |first2=Mark Z. |date=November 2007 |title=Supplying Baseload Power and Reducing Transmission Requirements by Interconnecting Wind Farms |journal=Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology |language=EN |volume=46 |issue=11 |pages=1701–1717 |doi=10.1175/2007jamc1538.1 |issn=1558-8424|citeseerx=10.1.1.475.4620 }}</ref>

Unvarying power plants can be coal, nuclear, [[combined cycle]] plants, which may take several days to start up and shut down,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.zdnet.com/article/why-baseload-power-is-doomed/|title=Why baseload power is doomed {{!}} ZDNet|last=Nelder|first=Chris|work=ZDNet|access-date=2018-12-02|language=en}}</ref> [[Hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]], [[Geothermal power|geothermal]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2007/10/scaling-geothermal-for-reliable-baseload-power-50159.html |title=Scaling Geothermal for Reliable Baseload Power |publisher=renewableenergyworld.com |date=2007-10-05 |access-date=2008-08-03 |archive-date=2018-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701030441/https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2007/10/scaling-geothermal-for-reliable-baseload-power-50159.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[biogas]], [[biomass]], [[Solar_thermal#Heat_storage|solar thermal with storage]] and [[ocean thermal energy conversion]].

Unvarying power plants can be coal, nuclear, [[combined cycle]] plants, which may take several days to start up and shut down,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.zdnet.com/article/why-baseload-power-is-doomed/|title=Why baseload power is doomed {{!}} ZDNet|last=Nelder|first=Chris|work=ZDNet|access-date=2018-12-02|language=en}}</ref> [[Hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]], [[Geothermal power|geothermal]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2007/10/scaling-geothermal-for-reliable-baseload-power-50159.html |title=Scaling Geothermal for Reliable Baseload Power |publisher=renewableenergyworld.com |date=2007-10-05 |access-date=2008-08-03 |archive-date=2018-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701030441/https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2007/10/scaling-geothermal-for-reliable-baseload-power-50159.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[biogas]], [[biomass]], [[Solar_thermal#Heat_storage|solar thermal with storage]] and [[ocean thermal energy conversion]].