Acceso usuarios
Scenarios of the French power system in 2035 indicate high shares of nuclear power (>50%) and renewables (>40%), with challenges in terms of market imbalances. By means of a power plant dispatching model, this paper tests scenarios where flexibility is mainly provided by nuclear power plants operating load-following. Results explore the economics of nuclear power in interaction with renewables and identify conditions where the market may be enough to reward nuclear flexibility, i.e. when nuclear reactors can capture inframarginal rents from more expensive generators such as gas-fired plants. Yet in scenarios with high solar power and low demand, ramping-down reactors might reduce nuclear revenues from lower output, and the operator’s revenues remain below the nuclear long-term cost. Without load-following provision, nuclear power plants are quite often the last to be called in the market which lowers revenues and may enhance losses to the operator. Complements to the day-ahead market such as contracts for differences are calibrated so that the operator attains the expected income. The analysis fuels the debate on the market design in case of limited nuclear ramping capability in the future, due to reactors ageing.
