INTEGRATING NUCLEAR AND RENEWABLES FOR HYDROGEN AND ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION

摘要

In the future the world may have large stranded resources of low-cost wind and solar electricity. Renewable electricity production does not match demand and production is far from major cities. The coupling of nuclear energy with renewables may enable full utilization of nuclear and renewable facilities to meet local electricity demands and export pipeline hydrogen for liquid fuels, fertilizer, and metals production. Renewables would produce electricity at full capacity. The base-load nuclear plants would match electricity production with demand by varying the steam used for electricity versus hydrogen production. High-temperature electrolysis would produce hydrogen from water using (1) steam from nuclear plants and (2) electricity from nuclear plants and renewables. Hydrogen would be shipped by pipeline to customers. Local hydrogen storage would enable full utilization of long-distance pipeline capacity with variable production. A simplified economic analysis of this system was undertaken to begin to understand under what conditions such systems are economic. The initial case study uses a nuclear-wind system in North Dakota with hydrogen exported to the Chicago refinery market.