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India to build six EPR nuclear reactors
India Nuclear power
EDF has submitted an offer to Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) to provide assistance in the construction of six planned nuclear reactors in the Indian province of Maharashtra. The offer commits EDF to providing the Indian nuclear electricity generator with engineering studies and equipment for the construction of the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant. Once complete, the 9.6 GWe site would be the largest by capacity in the world, covering the annual consumption of 70 million Indian households while avoiding the emission of 80 million tons of CO2 per year. The development follows the Indian and French governments’ signing of the Industrial Way Forward Agreement on 10 March 2018 to enable co-operation between the two countries. Discussions between EDF, other partners and the NPCIL are expected to take place soon,
enabling the development and signing of a binding framework agreement. The offer submitted by EDF includes a detailed technical configuration of the reactors, the associated comprehensive commercial terms and conditions for the supply of engineering studies, and equipment for six nuclear reactors. EDF will be partnering with Framatome and GE Steam Power to provide the engineering studies and components required. EDF will also provide training services for the operation and maintenance of the nuclear reactors whilst NPCIL will be responsible for the construction and the commissioning of each of the six units. EDF is partnering with the International Institute of Nuclear Energy and Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute to establish a centre of excellence in India for the training of engineers and technicians for the project.
ERCOT anticipates record electricity demand USA Energy market
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is expecting record-breaking electricity demand this summer owing to forecast hot and dry conditions and continued economic and population growth throughout the region.
However it believes that there is a low risk of emergency conditions, based on the expected generation availability and weather conditions. ERCOT is identifying low-probability, high- impact situations similar to the February winter event in its seasonal assessments, to ensure that all market participants and government officials have a comprehensive insight into market conditions. This will allow the market to more fully plan and prepare for even the most remote possibility.
Additionally, ERCOT has announced plans to visit selected power plants across the state to review summer weatherisation plans. While plant visits have occurred in the past for winter weatherisation, this is the first time officials will visit plants in preparation for summer conditions.
New analysis reveals potential net-zero cost reductions UK Energy policy
The Carbon Trust says that ‘Flexibility in Great Britain’, its most in depth analysis to-date on the subject, underlines the vital role of flexibility in delivering an unprecedented expansion of the UK’s energy system aimed at achieving net zero.
Its key findings:
● Embedding greater flexibility across the entire energy system will reduce the cost of achieving net zero for all consumers while assuring energy security;
● Investing in flexibility is a no-regrets decision as it has the potential to deliver material net savings of up to £16.7bn per annum across all scenarios analysed in 2050;
● A more flexible system will accelerate the benefits of decarbonisation supported by decentralisation and digitalisation. Policymakers should preserve existing flexibility options and act now to maximise future flexibility, such as by building it into ‘smart’ appliances or building standards. The findings are expected to have profound implications for policymakers, households and the wider energy sector across Great Britain. For the first time, the system-level value of deploying flexibility across heat, transport, industry and power sectors in Great Britain, and the sensitivity of this value to different scenarios, has been assessed. The analysis is said to deliver a robust and up-to-date
8 | May 2021 |
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evidence-base on the role and value of flexibility in a net zero system, to drive decision making across the energy sector and government to create technology, policies and business models to realise this vision. Reaching net zero by 2050 will require an unprecedented expansion of the country’s energy system, with electricity demand forecast to treble from 2019 levels.
The conventional approach to energy system development has been to follow trends in demand and have production and network capacity ready to meet demand peaks. The net zero challenge will require a much larger electricity sector, given the increasing electrification of transport demand and heating, and the gas network will also undergo fundamental changes – potentially transitioning large portions to hydrogen, and/or acting as a back-up source of energy during extreme weather events. The operation of both networks will become increasingly interlinked to deliver a secure energy system and meet carbon targets.
The multi-organisational analysis was led by the Carbon Trust and Professor Goran Strbac, Imperial College London. The objective of the project was to understand how flexibility can help deliver a net zero transition under three heat decarbonisation scenarios – electric heating, hydrogen heating and hybrid (electric with back-up gas boiler) – rather than
recommend an optimal energy system for 2050.
The scenarios were chosen to represent the potential extremes as there is significant uncertainty around how Great Britain decarbonises heating, and these choices will have a significant impact on the size and make-up of the energy system. The importance of local action was reinforced by the analysis, which found that distributed flexibility assets deliver significant value locally. Although, even more value is realised when co-ordinated at a national level – a critical finding at a time when there is increased interest in local energy system planning.
The analysis also considered the use of hydrogen across the energy system. It found that the development of hydrogen uses and associated infrastructure (electrolysers, natural gas reformers, biomass gasifiers, CCS infrastructure, hydrogen turbines and storage) for 2050 has significant system benefits if co-ordinated effectively.
The report also identifies the key challenges that could delay, or prevent, the development of a smart flexible net zero system. The report’s authors call for flexibility to be treated as a core infrastructure challenge and to be integrated into low carbon generation, network planning and heat and transport decarbonisation strategies.
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