Powering large industrial facilities – using wind- or nuclear power?

Abstract

Many industrial facilities require large amount of power available through fossil energy, but in some countries the power is secured by hydroelectric power. Norway is one such country, but some facilities still use gas power due to hydroelectric power capacity limitations. Therefore, using wind- or nuclear power to cut emissions are relevant alternatives. Therefore, a concept and feasibility study using wind- or nuclear power at the single largest emitter of climate gases in Norway, Melkøya LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) terminal is presented. Due to the intermittency of the wind power, the balancing/back-up power must also be included. After running 10,000 trials in a Monte Carlo simulation to handle the uncertainties of the alternatives, the results support the Nuclear alternative. Future key issues are the cost escalations of wind turbines, the cost of balancing- and backup power for the Wind alternative and the waste handling for the Nuclear alternative.