The benefits of nuclear flexibility in power system operations with renewable energy

Jenkins, Jesse D.; Zhou, Zhi; Ponciroli, Roberto; Vilim, Richard B.; Ganda, Francesco; Sisternes, Fernando de; Botterud, Audun

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.03.002

Cited by 144 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Therefore, it was confirmed that with the increasing capacity of the WP and PV, the existing coal power units would not have the ability to supply enough flexible resources to promote their integration. Therefore, additional flexible resources would be necessary to meet the flexibility requirements [10,[59][60][61]. In accordance with the results of the aforementioned BAU scenarios, an estimate of the integration potential with different peak shaving depths of coal power units was also completed in this study.…”

Section: Case Study Of Low Share and High Share Scenarios After Retromentioning

confidence: 89%

The Flexible Operation of Coal Power and Its Renewable Integration Potential in China

Pan

Zhu

et al. 2019

Sustainability

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At present time, China’s power systems face significant challenges in integrating large-scale renewable energy and reducing the curtailed renewable energy. In order to avoid the curtailment of renewable energy, the power systems need significant flexibility requirements in China. In regions where coal is still heavily relied upon for generating electricity, the flexible operations of coal power units will be the most feasible option to face these challenges. The study first focused on the reasons why the flexible operation of existing coal power units would potentially promote the integration of renewable energy in China and then reviewed the impacts on the performance levels of the units. A simple flexibility operation model was constructed to estimate the integration potential with the existing coal power units under several different scenarios. This study’s simulation results revealed that the existing retrofitted coal power units could provide flexibility in the promotion of the integration of renewable energy in a certain extent. However, the integration potential increment of 20% of the rated power for the coal power units was found to be lower than that of 30% of the rated power. Therefore, by considering the performance impacts of the coal power units with low performances in load operations, it was considered to not be economical for those units to operate at lower than 30% of the rated power. It was believed that once the capacity share of the renewable energy had achieved a continuously growing trend, the existing coal power units would fail to meet the flexibility requirements. Therefore, it was recommended in this study that other flexible resources should be deployed in the power systems for the purpose of reducing the curtailment of renewable energy. Furthermore, based on this study’s obtained evidence, in order to realize a power system with high proportions of renewable energy, China should strive to establish a power system with adequate flexible resources in the future.

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Section: Case Study Of Low Share and High Share Scenarios After Retromentioning

confidence: 89%

The Flexible Operation of Coal Power and Its Renewable Integration Potential in China

Pan

Zhu

et al. 2019

Sustainability

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“…There are three options for variable electricity to the grid from a nuclear power plant: (1) vary reactor output, 18,19 (2) hybrid systems where a base-load reactor coproduces electricity and one or more energy intensive products such as hydrogen, [20][21][22] and (3) base-load reactors with heat storage with variable electricity to the grid and heat to industry. There are a wide variety of proposed hybrid systems that may…”

Section: Heat Storage and Assured Capacity Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variable and Assured Peak Electricity Production from Base-Load Light-Water Reactors with Heat Storage and Auxiliary Combustible Fuels

Forsberg

2018

Nuclear Technology

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In a low-carbon world (nuclear, wind, solar, and hydro) there is the need for assured dispatchable electricity to replace the historical role of fossil fuels. Base-load reactors can provide variable electricity to the grid by (1) sending some of their output (steam) to storage at times of low electricity prices and (2) using stored heat to produce added peak electricity at times of high electricity prices. Heat storage (steam accumulators, sensible heat, etc.) is less expensive than electricity storage (batteries, hydro pumped storage, etc.). The added cost of incrementally larger or standalone turbine generators for peak electricity production is small. However, energy storage systems (heat or electricity) can't provide assured capacity for extreme events, be it supply side (extended low-wind or low-solar conditions in systems with high wind or solar capacity) or demand side (long periods of cold or hot weather). With heat storage systems there is the option to provide peak electricity output when heat storage is depleted by heat addition with a water-tube boiler using natural gas, biofuels, or ultimately hydrogen. Fuel consumption for assured peaking capacity is small because most of the time the heat storage system meets peak electricity demands. The same systems enable reliable low-cost heat production for industry. Such systems enable an all nuclear or nuclear/hydro/ wind/solar/geothermal low-carbon electricity grid.

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“…Nuclear power is an indispensable part of the smart energy framework . Compared to other clean energy, nuclear power has many advantages such as reliability of power supply, high energy density, and low operation costs . As a consequence, the Chinese government gradually pays more attention to the development of nuclear power …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A two‐stage decision framework for inland nuclear power plant site selection based on GIS and type‐2 fuzzy PROMETHEE II: Case study in China

Liu

Huang

et al. 2020

Energy Science & Engineering

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Site selection is a critical strategic decision for inland nuclear power plants which have broad prospects of development. However, several shortcomings exist in current researches, such as the incomplete decision frameworks, the indiscriminately treated properties, and the information loss. To handle the above flaws, this study establishes a two‐stage site selection framework. In the first stage, the geographic information system and preselection criteria are applied to identify suitable alternative sites. And in the second stage, the interval type‐2 fuzzy PROMETHEE II and suitability criteria are utilized to rank alternatives and select the optimal site, where different preference functions are selected accordingly. Thereinto, the interval type‐2 fuzzy numbers are adopted to describe the uncertainty and vagueness in calculation, without being transformed to exact value. Finally, based on the proposed two‐stage decision framework, a case of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces is studied, to demonstrate its validity and practicability. The results show that S8 is selected as the optimal site for its strong government support, convenient fuel transport, and land availability. This study not only enriches the material databases for inland nuclear power plant site selection, but also offers theoretical reference for site selection studies of various objects.

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The benefits of nuclear flexibility in power system operations with renewable energy

Cited by 144 publications

References 20 publications

The Flexible Operation of Coal Power and Its Renewable Integration Potential in China

The Flexible Operation of Coal Power and Its Renewable Integration Potential in China

Variable and Assured Peak Electricity Production from Base-Load Light-Water Reactors with Heat Storage and Auxiliary Combustible Fuels

A two‐stage decision framework for inland nuclear power plant site selection based on GIS and type‐2 fuzzy PROMETHEE II: Case study in China

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