Assessment of the efficiency of developing VVER nuclear power plants based on economizer heating of feed water in conditions of uneven power consumption

The growing share of renewable and nuclear energy sources in the generation structure exacerbates the problem of covering uneven daily electricity consumption, which has a significant impact on the price in wholesale electricity markets. With an increasing share of renewable energy sources, wholesale market prices become increasingly sensitive to meteorological conditions, which requires improvements in the operation of other power plants in the generation capacity structure. These trends require taking into account the effect of the introduction of new generating sources in the context of current system and market conditions. This study provides a comparative analysis of the load factor of generating capacities and the dynamics of prices in wholesale electricity markets in a number of developed countries with different energy strategies and pricing policies. The study focuses on the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and the Russian Federation, which represent different approaches to the development of the energy sector and the integration of renewable energy sources. A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of introducing an additional maneuverable gas turbine, combined-cycle gas turbine, and integrating an economizer preheater into a nuclear power plant in order to increase the power output and expand the control range of the power unit has been performed. The results obtained indicate that improving the maneuverability of nuclear power plants is more efficient than introducing new organic fuel-based generating capacities.

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