Powering large industrial facilities – using wind- or nuclear power?

Figures & data

Figure 1. The Levelised cost of energy for various reactors designs built in various countries for different cost parameters. Source: (Rothwell 2016).

Figure 2. Overnight construction costs for nuclear power plants. Based on (Lovering, Yip, and Nordhaus 2016).

Figure 3. UK industrial heat demand per year by sector. Source: (DECC 2013).

Figure 4. Temperature ranges of heat application processes and types of nuclear power plant. Source: (IEA 2017).

Figure 5. The approximate location of Hammerfest LNG Terminal Melkøya.

Figure 6. Illustration of the Melkøya LNG Terminal upon completion. Source: Equinor.¹⁰

Figure 7. Hourly wind power production in N04 in 2022 [MWh/h]. The figure is made by the author using data from NVE.¹¹

Figure 8. Monthly wind power production profile including uncertainty in the model.

Figure 9. Monthly spot prices in SE1, N03, power intensive industry in Norway and FI.

Table 1. Cost summary for the two alternatives.

WIND	Base case	1	2	3	…	24	25
Annual balancing- and backup power	14	14	14	14	…	14	14
Snøhvit Future CAPEX	13,200	13,200
Melkøya additional OPEX	158	158	166	174	…	485	510
Cash flow	13,877	13,215	16	17	…	38	39
Discounted cash flow	13,527	13,215	15	15	…	10	10
LCOE wind power	24,260
Total Discounted Asset Costs	37,788
Social opportunity cost	72	72	72	72	…	72	72
Discounted social opportunity costs	1165	72	69	66	…	29	28
Total Discounted System Costs [MNOK]	38,953
NUCLEAR	Base case	1	2	3	…	24	25
Nuclear CAPEX	9321	9321
Nuclear residual value							−5438
Nuclear OPEX	499	499	524	551	…	1,534	1610
Cash flow	27,715	9821	524	551	…	1534	−327
Discounted cash flow	19,145	9821	495	490	…	402	−945
Total Discounted System Costs	19,145

Figure 10. Comparing the Total Discounted System Costs for the Wind- and for Nuclear alternatives.

Figure 11. The usage of the 100 MW grid support and outright energy shortages.

Figure 12. The discounted social opportunity cost.

Figure 13. System LCOE [MNOK] for wind- and nuclear alterntives.

Figure 14. Uncertainty sensitivity analysis of the difference between the two alternatives.

Figure 15. Tracing sensitivity analysis of the difference between the two alternatives.

Rothwell, G. 2016. “Defining Plant-level Costs.” In The Full Costs of Electricity Provision.Nuclear Energy Agency International Workshop. Paris: OECD, Nuclear Energy Agency, Division of Nuclear Development.

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Lovering, J. R., A. Yip, and T. Nordhaus. 2016. “Historical Construction Costs of Global Nuclear Power Reactors.” Energy Policy 91 (April): 371–382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2016.01.011

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DECC. 2013. The Future of Heating: Meeting the Challenge. London: Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

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IEA. 2017. Opportunities for Cogeneration with Nuclear Energy. Paris: International Energy Agency (IEA) / Organization for Economic Co-operation and Develop (OECD).

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