News | Headlines FLEX reactor ‘reaches a watershed’ UK Nuclear power
Nuclear energy developer MoltexFLEX has reached what it calls a watershed in the development of its small modular FLEX reactor that is expected to see the UK-based company move to the next level, from the pre-concept science phase into accelerated product and project delivery.
Reactor building
Heat exchangers Tank top (shield)
In doing so, the company expects to expand its operations and has significantly refined the design of its FLEX molten salt reactor – delivering a 50% increase in power output, while maintaining previous targets for overnight capital cost and cost per MWh. Despite the recent increases in commodity prices around the world, the FLEX reactor is claimed to be able to generate electricity for less than £30/MWh when used as a source of baseload power.
Tank pit (shield) Reactor core
“We have firmly established the core aspects of the FLEX concept as we ramp up engineering design,” said MoltexFLEX head of Engineering Chris Hankinson. “More work will be undertaken over the coming months to further refine and finally freeze the design, and this will then be taken forward to create our first-of-a-kind reactor.”
Cgi of FLEX reactor building The current work programme sets
MoltexFLEX on the road toward delivering its prototype FLEX reactor around the turn of the decade. The main changes to the design include an increase in power output from 40 MWth/16 MWe as originally envisaged to 60 MWth/24 MWe, made possible by optimisation of the core design and the fuel pin material.
The refuelling schedule has also been adjusted to account for the fact that the reactor will now use 5% low-enriched uranium (LEU) instead of 6% LEU. This change will increase the reactor’s global applicability and harness the existing fuel supply chain. MoltexFLEX CEO David Landon commented: “The work we have completed further boosts our confidence in the design and economics of the FLEX reactor, and our ability to deliver a first reactor ready for global roll-out through the 2030s.”
NY state to fund four storage demo projects USA Energy storage
New York state governor Kathy Hochul has announced awards amounting to nearly $15 million for four long-duration energy storage demonstration projects. The largest sum, $12 million, has been awarded to Form Energy. The company plans to develop, design and construct a 10 MW/1000 MWh iron-air battery system, at a project location still to be determined. Form Energy has signed deals to deploy its battery with utilities such as Xcel Energy, Southern Company and Great River Energy, and recently broke ground on a commercial-scale battery plant in West Virginia. In commercial terms iron-air batteries are said to be 10 times cheaper and 17 times longer lasting than lithium-ion equivalents, but are significantly bulkier and slower to recharge.
Ecolectro has received $1.08 million to scale-up the company’s polymer chemistry and materials that it expects to significantly reduce the cost of producing hydrogen by electrolysis, and create a drop-in replacement for current designs. This project entails scaling laboratory-proven technologies with engineering and validation prototypes to build and test 10 kW electrolysis units. The electrolyser will be deployed in a pilot demonstration in partnership with Liberty Utilities in Massena, New York. PolyJoule Inc has received $1.03 million. The company plans to install a 2 MWh, 167 kW PolyJoule modular battery storage system in partnership with Eastern Generation at its Astoria generating station located in Queens, New York. This
Uniper Heyden 4 to be retired Germany Coal firing
Uniper will permanently retire the Heyden 4 hard coal-fired power plant in Petershagen near Minden on September 30, 2024, in line with the company’s 2020 decision to decommission the plant. As the responsible grid operator TenneT chose not to notify the Federal Network Agency by the deadline at the end of August 2023 of an extension of the existing determination of system relevance beyond September 2024, decommissioning is now final.
Heyden 4 power plant have been making a significant contribution to security of supply in northern and western Germany since
demonstration aims to prove the safety, technical, operational and economic merits of the PolyJoule Conductive Polymer BESS in a densely populated urban setting. Urban Electric Power has received $703 965 to install a 100 kW/1 MWh battery storage system, anchored by the company’s rechargeable zinc alkaline battery technology. The proposed project will be designed for 10- to 24-hour applications at commercial and industrial facilities. The project is located in Pearl River, New York.
The state has also made available $8.15 million in funding to support innovative long duration energy storage solutions, devices, software, controls, and other complimentary technologies yet to be commercialised.
1987, and electricity has been generated at the site since 1951. The final
decommissioning decision is a significant step for the Federal Republic of Germany’s exit from coal-fired power generation, and for the transformation of Uniper’s portfolio. Uniper will phase out coal-fired power generation by 2029 – eight years earlier than previously planned. Uniper aims to have a European power generation portfolio totalling 15-20 GW by 2030.
The Heyden 4 power plant had already ceased commercial operation after being awarded a contract in the first tender to reduce coal-fired power generation on 28 December,
6 | September 2023 |
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2020, but returned to the market from the grid reserve on 29 August, 2022, on the basis of the EKBG (“Ersatzkraftwerkebereitstellungsgesetz”) passed by the German government and the associated ordinance. This ordnance allowed the plant to return to the market until 31 March, 2024. After that the plant became available to the system operator as a grid reserve power plant until end-September 2024. The plant has a net capacity of 875 MW and currently employs 95 people with related training. Uniper is developing a master plan for the site, in close consultation with the town of Petershagen, in order to continue creating jobs in the future.
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