The Future Role of Nuclear Power in the Coal Dominated Power System: the Case of Shandong

Nuclear energy and renewable energy have been deployed and expanded globally to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the environment. The demand for flexibility is increasing sharply with the rapid penetration of intermittent renewables in the power system. Meanwhile, in the coal dominated power system, the reduction on the share of coal-fired power will leave the power system with a more serious shortage of flexibility. The flexible nuclear operation has aroused wide attention as an important flexibility resource of the power system. To evaluate the role of the flexible nuclear operation on the coal-dominated power system, we first model the flexible operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs). Then we integrate the operation model of NPPs in a unit commitment and economic dispatch model. The model is further integrated into the power system operation simulation framework. Finally, we analyze the potential benefits of flexible nuclear operation using the power system operation simulation tool for a coal-dominated power system: Shandong province of China. The simulation results indicate that the flexible nuclear operation could effectively reduce start-up and shut-down times of coal-fired power units and help the power system to achieve a higher renewable energy penetration of 47.98%. The research suggested that it is feasible and beneficial to use NPPs to produce flexibility in the future power system.