IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v15y2022i16p5830-d886117.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Repowering a Coal Power Unit with Small Modular Reactors and Thermal Energy Storage

Author

Listed:
  • Łukasz Bartela

    (Department of Power Engineering and Turbomachinery, Silesian University of Technology, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland)

  • Paweł Gładysz

    (Faculty of Energy and Fuels, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Krakow, Poland)

  • Jakub Ochmann

    (Department of Power Engineering and Turbomachinery, Silesian University of Technology, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland)

  • Staffan Qvist

    (Qvist Consulting Limited, Maidenhead SL6 8EW, UK)

  • Lou Martinez Sancho

    (Kairos Power LLC, Alameda, CA 94501, USA)

Abstract

In the first months of 2022, there was a sharp turn in the energy policy of the European Union, initially spurred by increasing energy prices and further escalated by Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine. Further transformation of the energy system will likely be accompanied by the gradual abandonment of natural gas from Russia and an increase of renewable and nuclear energy. Such a transition will not only increase energy security, but also accelerate the pace at which greenhouse gas emissions are reduced in Europe. This could be achieved more effectively if some of the new nuclear energy capacity is optimized to play an increased balancing role in the energy system, thus allowing for deeper market penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources with a reduced need for flexible fossil backup power and storage. A double effect of decarbonization can be achieved by investments in nuclear repowering of coal-fired units, with the replacement of coal boiler islands with nuclear reactor systems. Repowered plants, in turn, operate flexibly via integration with thermal energy storage systems using molten salt. This paper presents the results of a technoeconomic analysis for three cases of nuclear repowering of a 460 MW supercritical coal-fired unit in Poland. The first reference case assumes that three reactors are replacing the existing coal boilers, while the second reference leverages two reactors. The third uses two nuclear reactors equipped with a molten salt thermal energy storage system as a buffer for the heat produced by the reactor system. The analysis of the third case demonstrates how the TES system’s capacity varies from 200 to 1200 MWh, highlighting the possibility of obtaining a high degree of flexibility of the nuclear unit due to TES system without significant drops in the efficiency of electricity production. The economic analysis demonstrates that integration with TES systems may be beneficial if the current levels of daily variation in electricity prices are maintained. For current market conditions, the most attractive investment is a case with two reactors and a TES system capacity of 800 MWh; however, with the increasing price volatility, this grows to a larger capacity of 1000 or 1200 MWh.

Suggested Citation

  • Łukasz Bartela & Paweł Gładysz & Jakub Ochmann & Staffan Qvist & Lou Martinez Sancho, 2022. "Repowering a Coal Power Unit with Small Modular Reactors and Thermal Energy Storage," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-28, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:16:p:5830-:d:886117
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/16/5830/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/16/5830/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Garbrecht, Oliver & Bieber, Malte & Kneer, Reinhold, 2017. "Increasing fossil power plant flexibility by integrating molten-salt thermal storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 876-883.
    2. Alberto Giaconia & Anna Chiara Tizzoni & Salvatore Sau & Natale Corsaro & Emiliana Mansi & Annarita Spadoni & Tiziano Delise, 2021. "Assessment and Perspectives of Heat Transfer Fluids for CSP Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-25, November.
    3. Wojciech Kosman & Andrzej Rusin, 2020. "The Application of Molten Salt Energy Storage to Advance the Transition from Coal to Green Energy Power Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-18, May.
    4. Łukasz Bartela & Paweł Gładysz & Charalampos Andreades & Staffan Qvist & Janusz Zdeb, 2021. "Techno-Economic Assessment of Coal-Fired Power Unit Decarbonization Retrofit with KP-FHR Small Modular Reactors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-25, April.
    5. Alberto Giaconia & Irena Balog & Giampaolo Caputo, 2021. "Hybridization of CSP Plants: Characterization of a Molten Salt Heater for Binary and Ternary Nitrate Salt Mixtures Fueled with Gas/Biogas Heaters," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-18, November.
    6. Rob Hovsapian & Julian D. Osorio & Mayank Panwar & Chryssostomos Chryssostomidis & Juan C. Ordonez, 2021. "Grid-Scale Ternary-Pumped Thermal Electricity Storage for Flexible Operation of Nuclear Power Generation under High Penetration of Renewable Energy Sources," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-15, June.
    7. Herrmann, Ulf & Kelly, Bruce & Price, Henry, 2004. "Two-tank molten salt storage for parabolic trough solar power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 883-893.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Haneklaus, Nils & Qvist, Staffan & Gładysz, Paweł & Bartela, Łukasz, 2023. "Why coal-fired power plants should get nuclear-ready," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    2. Weng, Tingwei & Zhang, Guangxu & Wang, Haixin & Qi, Mingliang & Qvist, Staffan & Zhang, Yaoli, 2024. "The impact of coal to nuclear on regional energy system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kosman, Wojciech & Rusin, Andrzej & Reichel, Piotr, 2023. "Application of an energy storage system with molten salt to a steam turbine cycle to decrease the minimal acceptable load," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    2. Wojciech Kosman & Andrzej Rusin, 2020. "The Application of Molten Salt Energy Storage to Advance the Transition from Coal to Green Energy Power Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-18, May.
    3. Li, Xiaolei & Xu, Ershu & Song, Shuang & Wang, Xiangyan & Yuan, Guofeng, 2017. "Dynamic simulation of two-tank indirect thermal energy storage system with molten salt," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1311-1319.
    4. Collins, Seán & Deane, J.P. & Ó Gallachóir, Brian, 2017. "Adding value to EU energy policy analysis using a multi-model approach with an EU-28 electricity dispatch model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 433-447.
    5. Desideri, Umberto & Campana, Pietro Elia, 2014. "Analysis and comparison between a concentrating solar and a photovoltaic power plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 422-433.
    6. Backhaus, Klaus & Gausling, Philipp & Hildebrand, Luise, 2015. "Comparing the incomparable: Lessons to be learned from models evaluating the feasibility of Desertec," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 905-913.
    7. Yan Zhang & Quan Lyu & Yang Li & Na Zhang & Lijun Zheng & Haoyan Gong & Hui Sun, 2020. "Research on Down-Regulation Cost of Flexible Combined Heat Power Plants Participating in Real-Time Deep Down-Regulation Market," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-17, February.
    8. Alberto Giaconia & Irena Balog & Giampaolo Caputo, 2021. "Hybridization of CSP Plants: Characterization of a Molten Salt Heater for Binary and Ternary Nitrate Salt Mixtures Fueled with Gas/Biogas Heaters," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-18, November.
    9. Mostafavi Tehrani, S. Saeed & Shoraka, Yashar & Nithyanandam, Karthik & Taylor, Robert A., 2019. "Shell-and-tube or packed bed thermal energy storage systems integrated with a concentrated solar power: A techno-economic comparison of sensible and latent heat systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 887-910.
    10. Zaversky, Fritz & Sánchez, Marcelino & Astrain, David, 2014. "Object-oriented modeling for the transient response simulation of multi-pass shell-and-tube heat exchangers as applied in active indirect thermal energy storage systems for concentrated solar power," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 647-664.
    11. Meroueh, Laureen & Yenduru, Karthik & Dasgupta, Arindam & Jiang, Duo & AuYeung, Nick, 2019. "Energy storage based on SrCO3 and Sorbents—A probabilistic analysis towards realizing solar thermochemical power plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 770-786.
    12. Hyrzyński, Rafał & Ziółkowski, Paweł & Gotzman, Sylwia & Kraszewski, Bartosz & Ochrymiuk, Tomasz & Badur, Janusz, 2021. "Comprehensive thermodynamic analysis of the CAES system coupled with the underground thermal energy storage taking into account global, central and local level of energy conversion," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 379-403.
    13. Raud, Ralf & Jacob, Rhys & Bruno, Frank & Will, Geoffrey & Steinberg, Theodore A., 2017. "A critical review of eutectic salt property prediction for latent heat energy storage systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 936-944.
    14. Tassi, Francesco & Kittner, Noah, 2024. "Repurposing coal plants—regional economic impacts from low carbon generation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    15. Feng, Penghui & Wu, Zhen & Zhang, Yang & Yang, Fusheng & Wang, Yuqi & Zhang, Zaoxiao, 2018. "Multi-level configuration and optimization of a thermal energy storage system using a metal hydride pair," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 25-36.
    16. Luo, Chending & Zhang, Na, 2012. "Zero CO2 emission SOLRGT power system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 312-323.
    17. Gong, Mei & Ottermo, Fredric, 2022. "High-temperature thermal storage in combined heat and power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    18. Wang, Y. & Barde, A. & Jin, K. & Wirz, R.E., 2020. "System performance analyses of sulfur-based thermal energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    19. Py, Xavier & Azoumah, Yao & Olives, Régis, 2013. "Concentrated solar power: Current technologies, major innovative issues and applicability to West African countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 306-315.
    20. Tehrani, S. Saeed Mostafavi & Taylor, Robert A. & Saberi, Pouya & Diarce, Gonzalo, 2016. "Design and feasibility of high temperature shell and tube latent heat thermal energy storage system for solar thermal power plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA), pages 120-136.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:16:p:5830-:d:886117. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.