The effect of a nuclear baseload in a zero-carbon electricity system: An analysis for the UK

Cárdenas, Bruno; Ibanez, Roderaid; Rouse, James; Swinfen-Styles, Lawrie; Garvey, Seamus

Abstract

This paper explores the effect of having a nuclear baseload in a 100% carbon-free electricity system The study analyses numerous scenarios based on different penetrations of conventional nuclear, wind and solar PV power, different levels of overgeneration and different combinations between medium and long duration energy stores (hydrogen and compressed air, respectively) to determine the configuration that achieves the lowest total cost of electricity (TCoE). At their current cost, new baseload nuclear power plants are too expensive. Results indicate the TCoE is minimised when demand is supplied entirely by renewables with no contribution from conventional nuclear. However, small modular reactors may achieve costs of ∼£60/MWh (1.5× current wind cost) in the future. With such costs, supplying ∼80% of the country's electricity demand with nuclear power could minimise the TCoE. In this scenario, wind provides the remaining 20% plus a small percentage of overgeneration (∼2.5%). Hydrogen in underground caverns provides ∼30.5 TWh (81 days) of long-duration energy storage while CAES systems provide 2.8 TWh (∼8 days) of medium-duration storage. This configuration achieves costs of ∼65.8 £/MWh. Batteries (required for short duration imbalances) are not included in the figure. The TCoE achieved will be higher once short duration storage is accounted for.

Citation

Cárdenas, B., Ibanez, R., Rouse, J., Swinfen-Styles, L., & Garvey, S. (2023). The effect of a nuclear baseload in a zero-carbon electricity system: An analysis for the UK. Renewable Energy, 205, 256-272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2023.01.028

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 6, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jan 27, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-03
• Deposit Date: Feb 27, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 27, 2023
• Journal: Renewable Energy
• Print ISSN: 0960-1481
• Electronic ISSN: 1879-0682
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 205
• Pages: 256-272
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2023.01.028
• Keywords: Nuclear baseload; Small modular reactors; Energy storage capacity; Renewable mix; Grid flexibility; Levelized cost electricity
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/17905854
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148123000319
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: The effect of a nuclear baseload in a zero-carbon electricity system: An analysis for the UK; Journal Title: Renewable Energy; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2023.01.028; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.