IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i7p3083-d1109766.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Repowering a Coal Power Plant Steam Cycle Using Modular Light-Water Reactor Technology

Author

Listed:
  • Henryk Łukowicz

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

  • 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)

  • Staffan Qvist

    (Qvist Consulting Limited, London UB1 3EP, UK)

Abstract

This article presents the results of a techno-economic analysis of repowering a coal-fired power plant’s steam turbine system to instead accept heat produced by a pressurized water reactor-type small modular nuclear system (PWR SMR). This type of repowering presents a challenge due to the significantly lower steam pressure and temperature produced by the nuclear system. A 460 MW supercritical power unit with steam parameters of 28 MPa/560 °C/580 °C, operated in the Łagisza Power Plant in Poland, was selected for the analysis. After repowering, the turbine system would be fed with saturated steam from the steam generators of the SMRs at a pressure of 7 MPa and a temperature of 285 °C. In total, four options for repowering were analyzed. In all cases, the existing high-pressure section of the turbine was disconnected, and the existing low-pressure stages of the turbine, as well as all auxiliary and outward components (feedwater heaters, pumps, generator, condenser, condenser cooling, etc.), are re-used in their existing configurations, except for a feedwater-heater pump that needs to be replaced. In three cases, the existing intermediate pressure turbine section acts as the high-pressure stage of the repowered system. These cases include repowering without an additional reheater (case A), with an added single-stage reheater (B) and with an added two-stage reheater (C). In the fourth case (D), the existing intermediate pressure section was replaced by a new high-pressure turbine stage suited to the SMR live steam conditions. While all four repowering options are technically possible and may represent an economic advantage compared to a complete greenfield SMR installation, option D with a new high-pressure stage is clearly the best option available, with significant cost savings, leading to a lower levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and a higher net present value (NPV) and net present value ratio (NPVR) than the greenfield case and all other repowering. For relatively new coal power plants with equipment in good condition, this type of repowering may present a cost optimal near-term pathway.

Suggested Citation

  • Henryk Łukowicz & Łukasz Bartela & Paweł Gładysz & Staffan Qvist, 2023. "Repowering a Coal Power Plant Steam Cycle Using Modular Light-Water Reactor Technology," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-25, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:7:p:3083-:d:1109766
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/7/3083/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/7/3083/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yue, Xianghua & Peng, Michael Yao-Ping & Anser, Muhammad Khalid & Nassani, Abdelmohsen A. & Haffar, Mohamed & Zaman, Khalid, 2022. "The role of carbon taxes, clean fuels, and renewable energy in promoting sustainable development: How green is nuclear energy?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 167-178.
    2. Christoph Halser & Florentina Paraschiv, 2022. "Pathways to Overcoming Natural Gas Dependency on Russia—The German Case," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-24, July.
    3. Sylwia Mrozowska & Jan A. Wendt & Krzysztof Tomaszewski, 2021. "The Challenges of Poland’s Energy Transition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-22, December.
    4. Song Xu & Yiu Hin Martin Lu & Meiheriayi Mutailipu & Kanti Yan & Yaoli Zhang & Staffan Qvist, 2022. "Repowering Coal Power in China by Nuclear Energy—Implementation Strategy and Potential," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-27, January.
    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. Marcin Wójcik & Pamela Jeziorska-Biel, 2023. "Geographies of Energy: Key Issues and Challenges towards Spatial Justice Concepts," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-9, January.
    2. Sergey Zhironkin & Fares Abu-Abed & Elena Dotsenko, 2023. "The Development of Renewable Energy in Mineral Resource Clusters—The Case of the Siberian Federal District," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-28, April.
    3. Pin-Han Chen & Cheng-Han Lee & Jun-Yi Wu & Wei-Sheng Chen, 2023. "Perspectives on Taiwan’s Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-11, March.
    4. Bashir, Muhammad Farhan & Ma, Beiling & Sharif, Arshian & Ao, Tong & Koca, Kemal, 2023. "Nuclear energy consumption, energy access and energy poverty: Policy implications for the COP27 and environmental sustainability," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    5. Lisiak-Zielińska, Marta & Jałoszyńska, Sylwia & Borowiak, Klaudia & Budka, Anna & Dach, Jacek, 2023. "Perception of biogas plants: A public awareness and preference - A case study for the agricultural landscape," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    6. Peng, Weicai & Lu, Shibao & Lu, Wenjing, 2022. "Green financing for the establishment of renewable resources under carbon emission regulation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 1210-1225.
    7. Męczyński Michał & Ciesiółka Przemysław, 2022. "Regional Green Transition: Cases of Polish and Russian Regions," Quaestiones Geographicae, Sciendo, vol. 41(4), pages 165-177, December.
    8. Zhao, Congyu & Dong, Kangyin & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2024. "Carbon lock-in endgame: Can energy trilemma eradication contribute to decarbonization?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    9. Jarosław Kaczmarek, 2022. "The Balance of Outlays and Effects of Restructuring Hard Coal Mining Companies in Terms of Energy Policy of Poland PEP 2040," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-30, March.
    10. Adrian Tantau & Greta Marilena Puscasu & Silvia Elena Cristache & Cristina Alpopi & Laurentiu Fratila & Daniel Moise & Georgeta Narcisa Ciobotar, 2022. "A Deep Understanding of Romanian Attitude and Perception Regarding Nuclear Energy as Green Investment Promoted by the European Green Deal," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-14, December.
    11. Liu, Shuqiang & Kang, Yaoqi & Deng, Zijin & Yin, Zibin & Ye, Zixiao & Xue, Jingyu & Zhang, Jie, 2024. "Study on the effect of blending hydrocarbon-based biodiesel on the performance of SCR system and urea calibration method for marine engines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    12. Gordon Rausser & Wadim Strielkowski & Grzegorz Mentel, 2023. "Consumer Attitudes toward Energy Reduction and Changing Energy Consumption Behaviors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-5, February.
    13. Marian Woźniak & Aleksandra Badora & Krzysztof Kud, 2023. "Expectations of the Inhabitants of South-Eastern Poland Regarding the Energy Market, in the Context of the COVID-19 Crisis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-25, July.
    14. Xin, Baogui & Zhang, Mengwei, 2023. "Evolutionary game on international energy trade under the Russia-Ukraine conflict," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    15. Mohammed Al-Breiki & Yusuf Bicer, 2022. "Potential Solutions for the Short to Medium-Term Natural Gas Shortage Issues of Europe: What Can Qatar Do?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-15, November.
    16. Mahdavi-Meymand, Amin & Sulisz, Wojciech, 2023. "Application of nested artificial neural network for the prediction of significant wave height," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 157-168.
    17. Lucas Reijnders, 2022. "Defining and Operationalizing Sustainability in the Context of Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-9, July.
    18. Małgorzata Żak-Skwierczyńska, 2022. "Energy Transition of the Coal Region and Challenges for Local and Regional Authorities: The Case of the Bełchatów Basin Area in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-32, December.
    19. Varbanov, Petar Sabev & Wang, Bohong & Ocłoń, Paweł & Radziszewska-Zielina, Elżbieta & Ma, Ting & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Jia, Xuexiu, 2023. "Efficiency measures for energy supply and use aiming for a clean circular economy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    20. Mamon Adam Maarof & Dildar Haydar Ahmed & Ahmed Samour, 2023. "Fiscal Policy, Oil Price, Foreign Direct Investment, and Renewable Energy—A Path to Sustainable Development in South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-16, June.

    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:16:y:2023:i:7:p:3083-:d:1109766. 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.