Economic Assessment of Coal-Fired Power Unit Decarbonization Retrofit with High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors

Abstract

To mitigate global warming, phasing out coal in the global energy system orderly and rapidly is an important near-term strategy. However, the majority of coal-fired plants in China have operated for less than 15 years. Accelerated coal power plant retirements would lead to substantial asset stranding. Coal-to-nuclear (C2N) technology offers a potential solution by replacing coal boilers in existing coal-fired plants with nuclear reactors. In this study, the G4-ECONS model was used to assess the economics of repowering a 600 MW supercritical coal-fired power plant with two 272 MWe high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. The timeline for the C2N project and the additional cost of dispatching electricity from the grid during retrofitting were discussed. Results showed that the C2N total capitalized costs are 19.4% (baseline estimate, USD 5297.6/kW) and 11.1% (conservative estimate, USD 5847.2/kW) lower than the greenfield project (USD 6576.5/kW), respectively. And C2N projects need to reduce LUEC by at least 20% to become competitive. This study can inform engineering design decisions leading to more precise and cost-effective C2N projects.