Techno-Economic Evaluation of Interconnected Nuclear-Renewable Micro Hybrid Energy Systems with Combined Heat and Power

Abstract

Renewable energy sources (RESs) play an indispensable role in sustainable advancement by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Nevertheless, due to the shortcomings of RESs, an energy mix with RESs is required to support the baseload and to avoid the effects of RES variability. Fossil fuel-based thermal generators (FFTGs), like diesel generators, have been used with RESs to support the baseload. However, using FFTGs with RESs is not a good option to reduce GHG emissions. Hence, the small-scale nuclear power plant (NPPs), such as the micro-modular reactor (MMR), have become a modern alternative to FFTGs. In this paper, the authors have investigated five different hybrid energy systems (HES) with combined heat and power (CHP), named ‘conventional small-scale fossil fuel-based thermal energy system,’ ‘small-scale stand-alone RESs-based energy system,’ ‘conventional small-scale fossil fuel-based thermal and RESs-based HES,’ ‘small-scale stand-alone nuclear energy system,’ and ‘nuclear-renewable micro hybrid energy system (N-R MHES),’ respectively, in terms of net present cost (NPC), cost of energy (COE), and GHG emissions. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted to identify the impact of the different variables on the systems. The results reveal that the N-R MHES could be the most suitable scheme for decarbonization and sustainable energy solutions.