Assessing the Effectiveness of NPP Participation in Covering Peak Electrical Loads Based on Hydrogen Technology

Abstract

One of the goals of the Russian Energy Strategy until 2035 is the development of hydrogen energy, namely, achieving global leadership in the export of hydrogen obtained from the use of energy from renewable sources and nuclear power plants. Further development of nuclear energy involves its production at existing nuclear power plants. One of the real examples is the production of hydrogen by electrolysis of water at the Kola Nuclear Power Plant. Currently, active research is being conducted in the field of hydrogen energy, and effective technologies for water electrolysis and reversible fuel cells (RFC) are being developed, which are used, among other things, in decentralized energy supply systems. The achieved overall efficiency of 37.18 and 49.80% with specific capital investments in the ranges of 1595–2050 and 1828–2396 $/kW in RFCs with solid polymer and solid oxide electrolytes, respectively, allows us to consider them as a means of storage during hours of reduced generation (off-peak) electricity from nuclear power plants. A universal (generalized) scheme for the use of hydrogen technologies at nuclear power plants has been developed based on combining systems of “hot” combustion of hydrogen in an oxygen environment to produce high-parameter water vapor (temperatures up to 3600 K at a pressure of 6 MPa) and “cold” combustion of hydrogen in fuel cells, including reversible ones. A comparative assessment of the technical and economic efficiency of peak electricity production based on the proposed options for hydrogen technologies used at nuclear power plants was carried out. Capital investments in RFC have been determined, which ensure equal technical and economic efficiency of peak electricity production when implementing the considered options. Nomograms have been developed to determine the cost of production during peak hours depending on tariffs and volumes of consumption during the off-peak period as well as capital investments in RFC. As calculations have shown, the cost of its production is 1.52–2.93 rubles/(kW h). Taking into account the useful service life of RFC leads to a significant increase in cost: it varies from 3.74 to 6.53 rubles/(kW h).