EURO 2025 Leeds
Abstract Submission

1745. Modeling hybrid nuclear reactors coupled with district heating networks

Invited abstract in session WB-46: Nuclear-powered energy systems and new reactor concepts, stream Energy Economics & Management.

Wednesday, 10:30-12:00
Room: Newlyn 1.07

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Cyrian Hallermeyer
SERG LGI CentraleSupélec, IFP-School, EDF R&D
2. Caroline Bono
EDF R&D
3. Pascal Da Costa
SERG, LGI CentraleSupélec
4. Frederic Lantz
IFP-School

Abstract

The decarbonization of the space-heating sector is a critical element in the global effort to transition to net-zero. As a proven technology for decarbonized heat and electricity generation, with experience in coupling with district heating (DH) networks, nuclear cogeneration plants (NCP) appear to be a promising technology to contribute to DH decarbonization. However, considering the substantial investment required for this technology and the development of alternative low-carbon sources, its role in DH systems must be critically evaluated. Our paper aims to identify key factors influencing the optimal transition pathways to low-carbon DH systems including NCPs. We seek to understand the benefits of nuclear cogeneration in a local context compared to alternative low-carbon heat production technologies. We conduct a comprehensive study of economic scenarios for optimal decarbonization of DH networks, including heat transport aspects in the modeling and economic evaluation. We develop a multi-period Generation Expansion Planning problem for a local DH system, including a NCP, a heat transmission network, and alternative heat production capacities (e.g, gas boilers, heat pumps). The problem is formulated as a two-phase Mixed-Integer Linear Programming model. The investment phase divides the horizon into 5-year periods, representing short-term system operations with representative weeks. The operation phase optimizes each block’s full system operations with an hourly timestep.

Keywords

Status: accepted


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