Thermo-economic assessment of flexible nuclear power plants in future low-carbon electricity systems: Role of thermal energy storage
Thermo-economic assessment of flexible nuclear power plants in future low-carbon electricity systems: Role of thermal energy storage
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DOI：
10.1016/j.enconman.2022.115484
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发表时间：
2022-03-24
影响因子：
10.4
通讯作者：
Al Kindi, Abdullah A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Aunedi, Marko;Pantaleo, Antonio M. M.;Al Kindi, Abdullah A.
间歇性可再生能源的渗透率不断提高，传统发电厂需要额外的灵活性，以便在保证能源供应安全的同时跟踪可再生能源发电量的波动。在这种情况下，将核反应堆与热能储存相结合可以确保核电站更加连续和高效的运行，同时在其他时候使其运行变得更加灵活和更具成本效益。本研究提出了升级 1610 MWel 核电站并添加热能存储系统和辅助发电机的方案。在英国国家电力系统的背景下，使用可最小化总系统成本的全系统模型，对运行建议配置的整个系统总效益进行了量化。拟议的配置使该电站在峰值负载期间发电量高达 2130 MWel，标称额定功率增加了 32%。这 520 兆瓦的额外电力由二次蒸汽朗肯循环系统（即优化循环热效率分别为 24% 和 30%）和利用总储热容量为 1950 兆瓦时的热能储罐产生。研究发现，用灵活的核电站取代传统核电站可节省 24.3m 英镑/年到 88.9m 英镑/年的整个系统成本，当储存的热量在 0.5 小时内完全释放时，效益最高。按增加灵活性的估计成本为 4270 万英镑/年，对此类核电厂提出的灵活性升级似乎在经济上是合理的，对于所检查的低碳情景，系统净效益范围为 400 万英镑/年到 3160 万英镑/年，前提是系统中灵活核电厂的数量较少。这表明该技术的价值取决于系统，在评估不同灵活核电站配置的好处并选择最具成本效益的设计和运行特性时，应充分考虑系统特性。
The increasing penetration of intermittent renewable power will require additional flexibility from conventional plants, in order to follow the fluctuating renewable output while guaranteeing security of energy supply. In this context, coupling nuclear reactors with thermal energy storage could ensure a more continuous and efficient operation of nuclear power plants, while at other times allowing their operation to become more flexible and cost-effective. This study proposes options for upgrading a 1610-MWel nuclear power plant with the addition of a thermal energy storage system and secondary power generators. The total whole-system benefits of operating the proposed configuration are quantified for several scenarios in the context of the UK's national electricity system using a whole-system model that minimises the total system costs. The proposed configuration allows the plant to generate up to 2130 MWel during peak load, representing an increase of 32% in nominal rated power. This 520 MWel of additional power is generated by secondary steam Rankine cycle systems (i.e., with optimised cycle thermal efficiencies of 24% and 30%) and by utilising thermal energy storage tanks with a total heat storage capacity of 1950 MWh(th). Replacing conventional with flexible nuclear power plants is found to generate whole system cost savings between pound 24.3m/yr and pound 88.9m/yr, with the highest benefit achieved when stored heat is fully discharged in 0.5 h. At an estimated cost of added flexibility of pound 42.7m/yr, the proposed flexibility upgrades to such nuclear power plants appears to be economically justified with net system benefits ranging from 4.0m pound/ yr to pound 31.6m/yr for the examined low-carbon scenarios, provided that the number of flexible nuclear plants in the system is small. This suggests that the value of this technology is system dependent, and that system characteristics should be adequately considered when evaluating the benefits of different flexible nuclear plant configurations and choosing the most cost-effective designs and operational characteristics.