The Economic Potential of Two Nuclear-Renewable Hybrid Energy Systems

Abstract

Cover Photos: (left to right) PIX 04135, iStock 22779761, PIX 16933., PIX 15648, PIX 08466, PIX 21205 NREL prints on paper that contains recycled content.iii This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. PrefaceChanges are occurring throughout the U.S. economy, especially in regards to how energy is generated and used in the electricity, buildings, industrial, and transportation sectors. These changes are being driven by environmental and energy security concerns and by economics. The electric-sector market share of natural gas and variable renewable generation, such as wind and solar photovoltaics (PV), continues to grow. The buildings sector is evolving to meet efficiency standards, the transportation sector is evolving to meet efficiency and renewable fuels standards, and the industrial sector is evolving to reduce emissions. Those changes are driving investment and utilization strategies for generation and other assets.Nuclear and renewable energy sources are important to consider in the energy sector's evolution because both are considered to be clean and non-carbon emitting energy sources. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are jointly investigating potential synergies between technologies exploiting nuclear and renewable energy sources. The two laboratories have held several joint workshops since 2011. Those workshops brought together experts in both areas to identify synergies and potential opportunities to work together. Workshop participants identified nuclear-renewable hybrid energy systems (N-R HESs) as one of the opportunities and recommended investigating whether N-R HESs could both generate dispatchable electricity without carbon emissions and provide clean energy to industrial processes. They also recommended analyzing the potential for N-R HESs to provide dispatchable capacity to a grid with high penetrations of non-dispatchable resources and to investigate whether real inertia provided by thermal power cycles within N-R HESs provides value to the grid. This report is one of a series of reports INL and NREL are producing to investigate the technical and economic aspects of N-R HESs. It provides results of an analysis of two N-R HES scenarios. The first is a Texas-synthetic gasoline scenario that includes four subsystems including a nuclear reactor, thermal power cycle, wind power plant, and synthetic gasoline production technology. The second is an Arizona-desalination scenario with its four subsystems a nuclear reactor, thermal power cycle, PV, and a desalination plant. INL analyzed the technical performance of the same two N-R HESs in a previous report. Future analyses are planned for other N-R HES options.iv private industry, and foreign countries are now developing and demonstrating high temperature nuclear reactors. The main advantage of these reactors is expected to be (1) higher power generation efficiency (up to 50%) and (2) higher temperature for industrial uses.

The Economic Potential of Nuclear-Renewable Hybrid Energy Systems Producing Hydrogen

“…In this report, we analyze N-R HESs using two different hydrogen production technologies. We chose hydrogen as the industrial product in this analysis for four reasons: (1) stakeholders expressed interest in hydrogen as an industrial product from N-R HESs; 7 (2) hydrogen produced via electrolysis of very low-priced electricity is a key aspect of the H2@Scale Big Idea; * (3) hydrogen is a potential energy carrier that both the transportation and industrial sectors can use while reducing emissions of air pollutants such as SOx, NOx, and particulates; and (4) hydrogen has been proposed as a means to provide long-duration, seasonal energy storage for electricity and other uses. The first hydrogen production technology we analyze is high temperature electrolysis (HTE) and the second is low temperature electrolysis (LTE).…”

“…2 Subsequently, JISEA iv team researchers conducted an assessment of optimal economic configurations and operation of similar N-R HESs. 3 These case studies are based on a future condition when wind or PV is producing a significant fraction of power generation and a new small/modular nuclear power plant that apportions heat between power production and a heat user is added to the grid. The first case study involves the production of methanol from natural gas with nuclear energy shifting between providing heat for methanol production and power production that ramps up and down, corresponding to wind power generation and grid demand dynamics.…”

Generation and Use of Thermal Energy in the Industrial Sector and Opportunities to Reduce its Carbon Emissions

“…Two N-R HES scenarios were initially analyzed by INL to evaluate their dynamic performance characteristics (Garcia 2015). NREL subsequently conducted an assessment of optimal economic configurations and operation of similar N-R HESs (Ruth et al 2016a). These scenarios are based on a future condition when a significant fraction of power generation is being produced by wind or PV and a new small/modular nuclear power plant that apportions heat between power production and a heat user is added to the grid.…”

“…An ME concept that is gaining some interest is N-R HES. A report on the economic potential of N-R HES concludes that the systems would be economically feasible if capacity payments are adequate and the systems mainly provide thermal energy to industry or an EP while also dispatching electricity to the grid to support power-generation resources adequacy (Ruth et al 2016a).…”

“…These products include electricity, manufactured goods, and intermediate energy carriers that may be stored or directly used to produce the set of products. The value proposition of "greenfield" w hybrid energy systems concept is currently being address by DOE, with an emphasis on regional scenarios that include a relative high, hypothetical, penetration of renewable energy (Bragg-Sitton 2016;Ruth et al 2016a). A "brownfield" hybrid energy system at an industrial site would involve the addition of a thermal energy generation source that is dynamically connected to the grid.…”