Coupling Wind Farm with Nuclear Power Plant

TL;DR

This paper explores the integration of wind farms with nuclear power plants, analyzing benefits, challenges, and case studies to evaluate the feasibility of coupling these renewable and nuclear energy sources at shared sites.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review and evaluation of the benefits and obstacles of coupling wind farms with nuclear power plants based on international experience and case studies.

Findings

Coupling can enhance renewable energy utilization and grid stability.

Shared siting may reduce land and infrastructure costs.

Challenges include safety, environmental, and logistical concerns.

Abstract

Climate change has been identified as one of the greatest challenges facing nations, governments, businesses and citizens of the globe. The threats of climate change demand an increase in the share of renewable energy from the total of energy generation. Meanwhile, there are tremendous efforts to decrease the reliance on fossil fuel energies which opens the venue for increasing the usage of alternative resources such as nuclear energy. Many countries (e.g. Egypt) are planning to meet increasing electricity demands by increasing both renewable (especially wind energy) and nuclear energies contributions in electricity generation. In the planning phase of siting both new Wind Farms (WFs) and Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs), many benefits and challenges exist. An important aspect taken into consideration during the NPP siting is the existence of ultimate heat sink which is sea water in most cases. That is why most NPPs are sited on sea coasts. On the other hand, during WF siting, the main influential aspect is the existence of good wind resources. Many coastal areas around the world fulfill this requirement for WF siting. Coupling both NPPs and WFs in one site or nearby has many benefits and obstacles as well. In this thesis, based on international experience and literature reviews, the benefits and obstacles of this coupling/adjacency are studied and evaluated. Various case studies are carried out to verify the coupling/adjacency concept.