Repowering Coal Power in China by Nuclear Energy—Implementation Strategy and Potential

Song Xu,Yaoli Zhang,Yiu Hin Martin Lu,Meiheriayi Mutailipu,Kanti Yan,Staffan Qvist

doi:10.3390/en15031072

Abstract

This article discusses a sustainable low-carbon development strategy that uses nuclear heat sources to replace coal boilers at existing coal power plants in China, to help support a resource and cost-effective low-carbon development. Based on the local situation in China, a three-stage strategy to explore the potential of repowering coal power by nuclear energy is proposed. The main focus of this study is to conduct a more detailed exploration of the 1st stage of this strategy, which includes coal plants located on the coast in regions that already have nuclear power installations. The study makes use of HTR-PM modular reactor for retrofit analysis for the types of coal units present in 1st stage of the strategy. The results show that: 1. There is a technical and economic basis for exploring nuclear power retrofit decarbonization. This conclusion is backed up by on-site transformation analysis and demonstration of the conversion of representative plant units to ensure the validity and reliability of the data. 2. This research provides a new pathway for the problem of stranded assets in China’s power sector decarbonization. The use of HTR-PM modules for retrofit can save up to 1200 billion $ as well as retaining local jobs and economic activity in areas currently hosting coal plants, which brings to society great economic and social benefits.

Highlights

IntroductionChina’s rapidly increasing power consumption, based primarily on coal, has brought severe challenges to national energy security, climate change, and environmental pollution control [1,2]
Since this study focuses on the nuclear power retrofit decarbonization of coal power plants, based on the Ref. [20], the maximum current effective age is set at 15 years
The results show that High Temperature Reactor-Pebble Bed Module (HTR-PM) will not affect the zone outside the nuclear power plant site, which means that an emergency planning zone with a nuclear island as the center and a radius of 500 m is sufficient to cover emergency response needs

Summary

Introduction

China’s rapidly increasing power consumption, based primarily on coal, has brought severe challenges to national energy security, climate change, and environmental pollution control [1,2]. The leaders of the Chinese government proposed “Dual carbon” goals in 2020 [5], and started to introduce electricity market reform. These marketbased reforms aim to improve the efficiency of both dispatch and investments in the power sector [6], and to help facilitate decarbonization. There are some challenges in this process [7], mainly in the planning, investment, and operation of low-carbon power systems. How to best coordinate the economics of the transformation of new and old technologies and the impact of new technologies on the old power system, including employment opportunities, has proven difficult for policymakers

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion