Conceptual evaluation of hybrid energy system comprising wind-biomass-nuclear plants for load balancing and for production of renewable synthetic transport fuels

Future energy systems will increasingly need to integrate variable renewable energy in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power production. Addressing this trend the present paper studies how a hybrid energy system comprising aggregated wind farms, a biomass processing plant, and a nuclear cogeneration plant could support high renewable energy penetration. The hybrid energy system operates so that its electrical output tends to meet demand. This is achieved mainly through altering the heat-to-power ratio of the nuclear reactor and by using excess electricity for hydrogen production through electrolysis. Hybrid energy systems with biomass treatment processes, i.e. drying, torrefaction, pyrolysis and synthetic fuel production were evaluated. It was shown that the studied hybrid energy system comprising a 1 GWe wind farm and a 347 MWe nuclear reactor could closely follow the power demand profile with a standard deviation of 34 MWe. In addition, on average 600 m3 of bio-gasoline and 750 m3 bio-diesel are produced daily. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of up to 4.4 MtCO2eq annually compared to power generation and transport using conventional fossil fuel sources.JRC.F.6-Energy Technology Policy Outloo