Project
Baseload nuclear power struggles to compete with subsidized renewables and plentiful gas in deregulated markets. Integrating an alternative customer for low-demand periods can allow nuclear to operate at steady state while still providing sufficient resources for grid stability.
The integration of the nuclear, renewable, and industrial partners requires the use of a flexible and accurate dynamic model to study and analyze the steady state and transient performance of the tightly-coupled system. The Nuclear Hybrid Energy Systems project develops detailed dynamic Modelica system models and economic performance models to help define and optimize this type of system.
Benefit
Smoothing the electricity market to allow a profitable coexistence of both nuclear and renewable power generators, and providing an alternate customer to optimize the usage of power, will help provide additional opportunities to deploy both nuclear and renewable power generators.
Sponsor
US Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy ARD Program (NE-5)
Principal Investigator
Thomas J. Harrison