Are Carnot Batteries an Alternative When Repurposing Coal Power Plants in Europe?

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-156-2_2How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Coal-fired Power Plants; Carnot Battery; Techno-economic Analysis; Dispatch and Sizing Optimization; Genetic Algorithm

Abstract

As Europe transitions away from coal-fired power plants, there is indecision regarding the fate of the retiring sites. This paper tests the feasibility of an alternative to consider: Carnot Batteries. Refurbishing existing power plants has several advantages. Components can be put to a new purpose. The locations are connected to the electricity and district-heating grids. Both reduce the costs of a Carnot Battery. The literature regarding retrofit operating power plants with thermal energy storage focuses on improving an existing power plant. This paper determines the technoeconomic feasibility of replacing the boiler as the source of heat with a direct heater and thermal energy storage. Carnot Batteries can contribute to mitigating the variability of renewable energy and increase its proportion of the energy production mix. The first step is a deterministic analysis of dispatch and then genetic optimization for the sizing. The optimization relies on open-source software for replicability and further development. The results point to feasible arrangements for the European electricity market if the assumptions regarding the possibility to reutilize the power block is true. For the electricity markets analyzed in detail here, it is possible to find a solution with a market competitive Internal Rate of Return, positive Net Present Value, and comparable Levelized Costs of Storage, particularly for the Romanian electricity market. Analysis of technical parameters highlights the importance of round-trip efficiency and shows a possible reduction in carbon emissions. This broad analysis argues for further investigating Carnot Batteries as an alternative when determining how a retired coal-fired power plant can be repurposed.

Copyright

© 2023 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Vartan Ahrens Kayayan
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/05/25
TI  - Are Carnot Batteries an Alternative When Repurposing Coal Power Plants in Europe?
BT  - Proceedings of the International Renewable Energy Storage  Conference (IRES 2022)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 3
EP  - 13
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-156-2_2
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-156-2_2
ID  - Kayayan2023
ER  -