※ Energy chaos from AI and solar + ESS + gas power generation
With the recent rapid growth of the AI industry in the United States, interest in power is high.
As power demand is expected to increase significantly due to AI, problems have been raised about the stability of power supply, and power sources such as nuclear power plants/SMR are attracting market attention.
Nuclear power plants/SMRs are a good carbon-free power source, but they have the disadvantage of taking too long to meet the surging power demand right now.
The fastest way to supply the power needed right now seems more realistic than nuclear power/SMR.
● Problems with Nuclear Power Plant/SMR
The problem with nuclear power plants/SMR is that data centers are needed right now, but it takes a long time to build nuclear power plants/SMRs (especially large nuclear power plants) and commercialization (SMR).
Large nuclear power plants require at least eight years from design to operation. Additionally, the planned construction period is frequently exceeded (especially in the Western world), with Arevasa in France delaying the construction of nuclear power plants in Finland by more than 13 years, and the Pramangville nuclear power plant by more than 10 years.
The U.S. Westinghouse also delayed the Bogle 3 and 4 units by more than six years than originally planned, and the Summer 2 and 3 units also abandoned construction after a six-year delay.
However, when Korea built a nuclear power plant in UAE, it was successfully built in 10 years.
The UAE nuclear power plant received orders in 2009, and on August 19, 2020, the first reactor started to transmit electricity.
In other words, large nuclear power plants have such a long construction period that even if a new nuclear power plant is planned now, it takes too long to effectively cope with the soaring power demand right now.
SMR has the advantage of dramatically shortening the long construction period of large nuclear power plants through modularization, but the problem is that it has not yet been commercialized.
Newscale in the United States is the closest company to commercialization of SMR,
After being selected as a national project by the U.S. government in 2013, Newscale applied for DCA (SMR design certification) by the NRC (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission) in 2017 and received the DCA of the NRC in 2020, laying the foundation for commercial development.
According to SMR’s commercialization plan announced in 2022, it submitted a construction and operation license reflecting site conditions in 2024 (not yet submitted), received approval in 2026 and aims to complete its first reactor in the United States by 2029.
Even if it goes according to Newscale’s plan, the first time SMR will go into operation (starting transmission) is after 2030.
However, I understand that Newscale’s plans for 2022 continue to be pushed back due to commercial concerns.
As such, the problem is that nuclear power plants/SMRs need too long to cover the rapidly increasing power right now.
● Solar+ESS+Gas Power Generation
In reality, solar power is the fastest power source in the United States.
Solar power is a power source that can supply power immediately because the construction period (utility scale) is very short at one year.
However, solar power must be accompanied by ESS and gas power generation because of the intermittent and rigid nature of renewable energy.
The most efficient way to increase power supply is to supply electricity through ESS during periods when solar power is not generated (mainly during night time) and to supply electricity through gas power generation when solar power is difficult for a long time due to climate problems. (Based on carbon-free power sources)
Small and medium (50Mw – 200Mw) gas power plants used for sub-generation can generate power with a construction period of 1-2 years, and are less geographical than large power plants.
In addition, it is a power source with very good output control (automatic load tracking capacity) and can cope with the intermittentness of solar power generation very effectively.
Therefore, gas power generation (LNG combined power generation) becomes the most ideal complementary power source for renewable energy.
In Korea, the reason why the previous government planned to build large-scale LNG combined power generation was because it was essential to expand renewable energy.
If ESS and gas power generation are combined based on solar power, the cheapest power generation source in the United States, it will be the most realistic and ideal means of expanding power supply.
https://view.asiae.co.kr/article/2024042222293747738
https://blog.naver.com/nihil76/222750220705