Title: Nuclear plants as an option to help decarbonising the European and French heat sectors ? A techno-economic prospective analysis

Biography:

To be updated

Abstract

The PhD Thesis studies the role that nuclear plants could play in decarbonizing the European and French heating sectors. These thermal plants could remain used in the long term due to their low carbon profile and ability to provide flexibility to the power grid. The most widely spread operation of nuclear plants however implies the rejection into the environment of the heat that cannot be converted to electricity. Transferring part of this heat to nearby industrial sinks or district heating systems would reduce fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. If replacing imported fossil-fuels, it would also improve energy self-sufficiency, favouring long-term price stability. Five Parts are composing the PhD Report. It starts with the Introduction (Part I) and ends with the Conclusions (Part V). Parts II, III and IV constitute the hearth of the Report. Part II evaluates the costs and benefits of diverse heat decarbonisation alternatives. Potentially cost-effective nuclear plant based heating systems are identified. At least seven out of the fifteen theoretical systems envisioned in Europe could prove to be overall good to the society. They represent a good compromise between the diverse socioeconomic criterions affecting decision-making processes, such as costs, greenhouse gases and air pollutant emissions, land use planning, energy self-sufficiency or price stability. The uncertainty is however important, especially regarding transportation and distribution costs. While the expected increase of carbon and fossil fuels prices would favour the development of low carbon heating systems, the economic and environmental balance remains to be evaluated on a case by case basis using advanced engineering softwares. Part II is decomposed into three Chapters: 1. Cost-Benefit Analysis of district heating (DH) using heat from nuclear plants in Europe; 2. Nuclear plant based DH systems are compared to other heat decarbonization options in Dunkirk; 3. Spatial analysis of feasible industrial symbiosis based on nuclear plant sourced steam in France. Part III analyses multi-stakeholder interactions in real world projects. Challenges to concrete implementation are high, arising from social, political, institutional, financial and psychological dimensions. If nuclear plants are planned on a site that holds potential for cost-effective heat supply (e.g. Gravelines, Le Bugey, Loviisa, Oldbury), they should be built as ‘cogeneration ready’. Cogeneration readiness can be delivered for a small incremental cost, and would ensure that the plants are ready for a complete cogeneration upgrade when the market, institutional and socio-political conditions are fulfilled. Alongside, the development of district heating networks and the co-location of diverse industrial factories within contiguous areas should be strongly supported through all channels, especially local ones. Part III is broken down into two Chapters: 4. Single case study of the Loviisa 3 project in Finland, offered by Fortum in 2009; 5. Multicriteria approach to help integrating viewpoints of various actors in a French urban area. Part IV investigates the French case in details through prospective and multi-level perspective approaches. Nuclear plant based heating systems could be progressively implemented between 2020 and 2050 without jeopardizing the development of renewable heat and power sources or other excess heat sources. Towards 2050, cost-effective supply of heat from French nuclear plants to DH systems and industrial sinks could total 20-180 TWth/a (10-60 TWth/a and 10-120 TWth/a, respectively) representing a reduction of 2-18% of the total French GHG emissions compare to 2014 levels (0.5-4% and 3.5-14%, respectively). Such systems are however barely mentioned in international and national energy scenario. While awareness, legitimacy and desirability can be stimulated by active and crossboundary intermediation, external and unpredictable events also hold a significant role. A prerequisite to an efficient intermediation is to acknowledge the fact that legitimacy is based not on the knowledge itself but on the working conditions surrounding knowledge creation. Part IV is split into two Chapters: 6. Prospective analysis in France towards 2050; 7. Open and active intermediation to enhance project experimentation in France.