Variable electricity from base-load nuclear power plants using stored heat - 15125

Restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions and growth of renewable energies change the price structure of electricity markets with more hours per year of low electricity prices and high electricity prices. This creates large economic incentives to (1) store energy at times of low electricity prices to produce electricity when prices are high and (2) couple base-load nuclear plants to heat storage to avoid selling electricity at times of low prices and increase electricity sales at times of high prices. Nuclear energy coupled with thermal energy storage has potentially superior economics to alternative energy storage technologies for peak electricity production because (1) heat storage is cheaper than electricity storage, (2) economics of scale for energy storage, (3) more storage cycles per year and (4) dispatchable electricity generation that avoids full depletion of energy storage systems. Nuclear with heat storage is potentially the enabling technology for a zero-carbon nuclear renewable electricity grid. The changing electricity market, nuclear thermal energy storage options, and market analysis using the Texas electricity grid as an example are described. (authors)