Optimal Economic Dispatch and Load-Following Strategies for Nuclear Integrated Energy Systems
The need for distributed and adaptable energy resources that can handle the growing unpredictability in both supply and demand is rising as the power system continues to modernize. In order to satisfy those needs and maintain grid resilience, nuclear power plants can dynamically control their output...
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IEEE
2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11072349/ |
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| author | Athanasios Ioannis Arvanitidis Miltiadis Alamaniotis |
| author_facet | Athanasios Ioannis Arvanitidis Miltiadis Alamaniotis |
| author_sort | Athanasios Ioannis Arvanitidis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The need for distributed and adaptable energy resources that can handle the growing unpredictability in both supply and demand is rising as the power system continues to modernize. In order to satisfy those needs and maintain grid resilience, nuclear power plants can dynamically control their output, despite typically being used as baseload generators. By incorporating energy storage and renewable energy sources, nuclear integrated energy systems are designed to satisfy the electrical and thermal demands of different end-user applications while ensuring flexible power operation. These systems generate revenue by participating in both wholesale and ancillary services electricity markets, as well as commodity markets for various byproducts generated from coupled industrial processes. This study addresses the economic dispatch efficiency of a tightly coupled nuclear integrated energy system comprising a gigawatt-scale light water reactor, commercialized in the U.S., a high-temperature steam electrolysis unit, a district heating network, and specified electrical loads. To demonstrate the nuclear power plant’s flexibility within the day-ahead unit commitment and economic dispatch framework, while maintaining equilibrium even during periods of refueling outages, this paper develops a mixed-integer linear programming framework that models the subsystems and components of its nuclear steam supply system. A systematic comparative analysis of flexible versus baseload nuclear power plant operation under varying levels of renewable energy integration indicates that flexible operation enhances system profitability by more than 18% while also increasing energy storage utilization, improving reactor responsiveness to load fluctuations, and allowing for greater participation across numerous electricity markets. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8bfae740b40a4e2dbdd1f5a5b6895850 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2169-3536 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Access |
| spelling | doaj-art-8bfae740b40a4e2dbdd1f5a5b68958502025-08-20T03:27:51ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-011311885711887310.1109/ACCESS.2025.358675311072349Optimal Economic Dispatch and Load-Following Strategies for Nuclear Integrated Energy SystemsAthanasios Ioannis Arvanitidis0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6547-7454Miltiadis Alamaniotis1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0787-5013Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USADepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USAThe need for distributed and adaptable energy resources that can handle the growing unpredictability in both supply and demand is rising as the power system continues to modernize. In order to satisfy those needs and maintain grid resilience, nuclear power plants can dynamically control their output, despite typically being used as baseload generators. By incorporating energy storage and renewable energy sources, nuclear integrated energy systems are designed to satisfy the electrical and thermal demands of different end-user applications while ensuring flexible power operation. These systems generate revenue by participating in both wholesale and ancillary services electricity markets, as well as commodity markets for various byproducts generated from coupled industrial processes. This study addresses the economic dispatch efficiency of a tightly coupled nuclear integrated energy system comprising a gigawatt-scale light water reactor, commercialized in the U.S., a high-temperature steam electrolysis unit, a district heating network, and specified electrical loads. To demonstrate the nuclear power plant’s flexibility within the day-ahead unit commitment and economic dispatch framework, while maintaining equilibrium even during periods of refueling outages, this paper develops a mixed-integer linear programming framework that models the subsystems and components of its nuclear steam supply system. A systematic comparative analysis of flexible versus baseload nuclear power plant operation under varying levels of renewable energy integration indicates that flexible operation enhances system profitability by more than 18% while also increasing energy storage utilization, improving reactor responsiveness to load fluctuations, and allowing for greater participation across numerous electricity markets.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11072349/Coupled industrial processeseconomic dispatchenergy storage integrationflexible power operationhigh-temperature steam electrolysisnuclear integrated energy systems |
| spellingShingle | Athanasios Ioannis Arvanitidis Miltiadis Alamaniotis Optimal Economic Dispatch and Load-Following Strategies for Nuclear Integrated Energy Systems IEEE Access Coupled industrial processes economic dispatch energy storage integration flexible power operation high-temperature steam electrolysis nuclear integrated energy systems |
| title | Optimal Economic Dispatch and Load-Following Strategies for Nuclear Integrated Energy Systems |
| title_full | Optimal Economic Dispatch and Load-Following Strategies for Nuclear Integrated Energy Systems |
| title_fullStr | Optimal Economic Dispatch and Load-Following Strategies for Nuclear Integrated Energy Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Optimal Economic Dispatch and Load-Following Strategies for Nuclear Integrated Energy Systems |
| title_short | Optimal Economic Dispatch and Load-Following Strategies for Nuclear Integrated Energy Systems |
| title_sort | optimal economic dispatch and load following strategies for nuclear integrated energy systems |
| topic | Coupled industrial processes economic dispatch energy storage integration flexible power operation high-temperature steam electrolysis nuclear integrated energy systems |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11072349/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT athanasiosioannisarvanitidis optimaleconomicdispatchandloadfollowingstrategiesfornuclearintegratedenergysystems AT miltiadisalamaniotis optimaleconomicdispatchandloadfollowingstrategiesfornuclearintegratedenergysystems |