Global Climate News - April 27-29
Repurposing retired coal power plants into nuclear facilities; Scaling Offshore Wind in the US; NASA's PREFIRE Experiment; Climate Adaptation for Cities;
What’s keeping Offshore Wind from scaling in the US
From US Department of Energy (DoE) Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Offshore Wind report:
Offshore wind in the US - 250 MW operational, 5GW under construction, >10GW approved
Higher capacity factors than onshore wind and solar PV; can meet winter loads
(Estimated) Capacity Factors for Offshore Wind off Northeast US Coast, DoE Floating offshore can be used in depths >200ft, significantly increases potential areas for installation
LCOE (30-year) rose from $85/MWh in 2021 to $140/MWh 2023 year-end due to rise in equipment costs, inflation, limited supply chain, schedule delays
There’s a 3-5 year gap between the developer winning capacity and finalising procurement contracts. Increase in equipment cost during this time led to many projects canceling offtake contracts, going through auctions again.
For projects where a final investment decision is made by 2030, LCoE of $100/MWh possible
To scale - firm offtake contracts, delivering projects on schedule, and expanding supply chains are needed
Critical infra - preparing ports, vessels for installation and operations, grid connections
Cost of capital has a big impact - “a ~2% increase in cost of capital leads to a ~20% increase in LCOE”
Global need for specialised vessels - jack-up wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs), foundation installation vessels (FIVs), and cable laying vessels (CLVs)
Limited US manufacturing capacity for jackets, no existing facilities for offshore towers
Global shortage of subsea cables and stations
HVDC substations from global supply chain are fully booked through 2032. Substations are challenged by shortages in large power transformers, HVDC converters, and offshore topside structure assembly yards, as well as cost and lead time for new manufacturing.
Here’s a similar analysis for the UK from the Renewable Supply Chain Readiness Study
Coal-to-Nuclear Repowering
New reports indicate that repurposing retired coal power plants as nuclear plants could reduce costs for nuclear power by 15-35%
According to findings from a 2022 (Department of Energy) DOE-led study of 157 retired coal power plants, 80% of the sites are conducive to siting advanced reactors, such as Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). DOE found this percentage is the same for the 237 sites with still operational coal power plants.
Modifying the existing permits of the coal facility for use with nuclear can save time. Also, three categories of systems from coal power plants - transmission system, heat sink infrastructure, and steam cycle components - may be useful for new nuclear power. But most will require additional work. An example from analysis of a specific site in 2022:
• The targeted output of the new nuclear plant exceeds that of the current switchyard limiting potential reuse, but some electrical systems could be used for construction.
• The high voltage transmission corridor and structures could be reused, but additional lines will be needed to support the increased plant output.
• The existing stormwater collection system (supporting local wetlands management) could be reused, but rerouting of buried piping will be necessary. EPRI, Full Case Study (X-Energy, 2022)
While solar or wind can also be set up on old coal power sites, setting up nuclear is more productive
According to DOE, the land use efficiency (both direct and indirect) for nuclear is 57,000 MWh/year per acre, 410 MWh/year per acre for coal, and 200 MWh/year per acre for solar.
Costs have been a big concern for nuclear power, but small modular reactors are more feasible. Overnight costs, the cost of the building the plant minus interest (or what the plant would cost if it was built overnight), for advanced nuclear are estimated in the $6000-10,000/kW range. For repeat deployments, these could drop by 40%, and further by 15-35% reduction with coal-to-nuclear repurposing. Between 2011 and 2019, 103 coal plants in the US were converted or replaced with gas-based power. Comparing nuclear costs with Gas-based power
A study on the economics of SMRs finds that the lowest Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) for SMRS with government support is around $48.4/ MWh for investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and $43.4/MWh for municipal utilities. For a natural gas plant those costs range from $38.6 - $43.4/MWh for IOUs and $35.9 - $40.6/MWh for municipal utilities and for wind $41.1/MWh for IOUs and $33.5/MWh for municipal utilities
For state-wise policy and incentives - such as tax exemptions for R&D on SMRs, grants to nuclear businesses, funds for feasibility studies and developing prototypes - for Nuclear in the US, read Coal-to-Nuclear Repowering (PDF)
Recent SMR developments - Rolls Royce + Industria partner for SMRs in Poland, South Africa, Floating nuclear in Russia
Utility Dive | DoE Coal-to-Nuclear Transitions (PDF) | EPRI - From Coal to Nuclear (October 2023)
Top Stories
The Arctics emit more solar energy than they receive, countering some of the heat absorbed in the tropics and help regulate overall global temperatures. However, surface temperatures are rising faster in the polar latitudes and ice is melting. In May and June, NASA is launching two satellites that will gather infrared radiation emitted from the poles for ~1 year, for its PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) Experiment. The data gathered over a much wider range of infrared wavelengths (far infrared) will improve predictions of future ice changes in climate models. businesswire | PREFIRE
Some examples of adapting global cities to climate-related changes, from the European Environment Agency’s report
Cities issuing green bonds - Paris, Vancouver, Johannesburg, Mexico City
Financial incentives for stormwater management - Washington D.C. Stormwater Retention Credit Trading Program
Water management - water use limits + media campaign reduced consumption in Cape Town
Drainage - Bratislava (Slovakia) subsidy on Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, such as water reservoirs, rainwater gardens, or green roofs
Green spaces - green roofs in Hamburg (Germany), where
green roofing measures for residential and non-residential buildings are subsidised with up to EUR 100,000 via the Hamburg IFB bank Src
Floods - dykes, levees and seawalls, early warning systems; Vlijmen-Den Bosch (Netherlands) - “750 hectares of farmland, nature reserves, and recreational areas west of Den Bosch were linked together”; and 'Rain Gothenburg' in Sweden
Heat - heat warning apps
Better housing - bioclimatic social housing in Zaragoza (Spain) uses glazed facades and better shading systems
Railways - use of solid concrete, heat-resistant metals, painting rail lines white
Managing mosquitoes - media campaigns, reporting sightings of Asian Tiger mosquito
ECEEE | European Environment Agency (EEA) Press Release | Report download link | AI summary of report
AI could help scale clean energy deployments by assisting
Power plant design
Monitoring, control and maintenance automation
Energy planning that combines inputs from existing infrastructure, humans and weather
Localised energy planning considering specific needs of the community
Natural disaster early detection, monitoring, response
Discovery of underground resources such as critical materials, geothermal reservoirs, uranium, and water
Materials lab automation, materials testing
Identifying infrastructure from sites that could be shared across different energy systems (for instance, coal-to-nuclear above)
China is reviewing a draft Energy law to scale low-emission energy Carbon Pulse | Government Press Release
Mapping mangrove cover in Mauritius using satellite images to assess changes in forest area over time, biodiversity, ability to capture carbon. The Conversation | Research in scientific reports
MIT researchers have curated a new dataset for more accurate tornado detection in the US. MIT News
Manganese Oxide catalysts for use in water electrolysis for producing hydrogen Innovation News | Research in nature catalysis (gated)
Sustainability reports from Sallie Mae (SLM Corporation) and Johnson Controls (via Facilities Dive)
New York Metropolitan Transport Authority’s Climate Resilience Roadmap (via Smart Cities Dive)
You can find all previous posts of this newsletter here.
Have the best day!
Best,
Soumya Gupta
Founder, Telborg.com | SummaryWithAI.com
LinkedIn | Twitter | soumya@telborg.com
