The international consultancy LucidCatalyst has issued a report that concludes that flexible advanced nuclear power reactors could complement wind and solar in markets with a high penetration of renewable energy sources. Advanced reactors with a capital cost of under three thousand dollars per kilowatt should be an attractive investment and create the most value for nuclear plant owners.
The new report was produced as part of the ARPA-E MEITNER (Modelling-Enhanced Innovations Trailblazing Nuclear Energy Reinvigoration) Program. This program aims to identify and develop innovative technologies that can enable designs for lower cost, more flexible advanced nuclear power reactors.
This study reviews two future scenarios for 2034 at a time when advanced reactors are expected to be commercially available. These scenarios involve four of the principle power markets in the U.S. including ISO-New England (ISO-NE); Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland Power Pool (PJM); Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO); and California ISO (CAISO). The two scenarios cover a ‘low renewables’ baseline scenario which assumes the continuation of existing renewables policies and current renewables build rates and a ‘high renewables’ scenario based on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Regional Energy Deployment System with low renewables costs and low natural gas costs. Three additional scenarios and potential market conditions were examined in PJM in order to determine the effects of a price being levied for CO2 emissions, fleet deployment and increased operating and maintenance costs and fuel costs.
The study shows how advanced reactors can complement wind and solar by modeling high penetration of renewables in the mid-2030s by following NREL scenarios. These technologies could drive down costs, reduce emissions and improve performance in the U.S. electrical grid. In each of the markets mentioned above, the addition of advanced reactors lowered the overall system cost.
LucidCatalyst concluded that only by designing advanced reactors that hit cost and performance targets will reactor developers be successful in delivering the hoped for large scale market transformation. Flexibility without storage may be good for the grid but it will not necessarily be a benefit to a plant’s revenue stream. Nuclear plants are designed to run at their maximum rated output. In order to make flexibility economic for nuclear power plants, developers will have to include a thermal storage system or be the beneficiary of major market reforms.