Cold Business: Economic Barriers to the Use of Power Station Waste Heat

摘要

Should no more oil and gas be burned, all the waste heat from electricity generation would have to be used for heating purposes. However, this futile calculation is not valid. Transporting the 20 to 50 exp 0 C hot power station cooling water to the consumption centres via pipes, raising it to an adequate temperature level with heat pumps and bringing the heat to the final consumer via distribution systems is technically possible without problems, but is much too expensive. In January this year the Commission on Waste Heat, formed in 1974, submitted its final report to the Federal Interior Minister. The experts state in their report that the present measure to protect the waters from power station waste heat are entirely satisfactory. At the same time they recommend to the State authorities that they consider the systematic use of waste heat when planning the location of power stations, so as to achieve an economic and environmentally compatible use of energy. In the past power station waste heat was almost exclusively used on an experimental basis to heat land used for agricultural purposes, fish breeding ponds and greenhouses in direct proximity to power stations. The Bavarian Ministry for Economy and Transport has now had the Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power station (GNPS) and its surroundings examined by the MEB Planning Office, Nuremberg, and the Research Centre for Energy Saving, Munich, to ascertain whether the power station waste heat could also be used in district heating systems. Waste heat from the Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power station could be pumped to Schweinfurt, 8 km away, by 2 methods - the 'ring main' and the 'partial solution'. The output and costs were compared and it was found that although technically feasible and more environmentally advantageous, the cost is still 20 to 40% above current levels of heat provision. Sizeable state subsidies may be the only answer. (ERA citation 10:048962)