Valuing maintenance strategies for fusion plants as part of a future electricity grid

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Schwartz, Jacob A., Ricks, W., Kolemen, E., Jenkins, J. D.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Schwartz, Jacob A.
Ricks, W.
Kolemen, E.
Jenkins, J. D.
author_facet Schwartz, Jacob A.
Ricks, W.
Kolemen, E.
Jenkins, J. D.
contents Scheduled maintenance is likely to be lengthy and therefore consequential for the economics of fusion power plants. The maintenance strategy that maximizes the economic value of a plant depends on internal factors such as the cost and durability of the replaceable components, the frequency and duration of the maintenance blocks, and the external factors of the electricity system in which the plant operates. This paper examines the value of fusion power plants with various maintenance properties in a decarbonized United States Eastern Interconnection circa 2050. Seasonal variations in electricity supply and demand mean that certain times of year, particularly spring to early summer, are best for scheduled maintenance. Seasonality has two important consequences. First, the value of a plant can be 15% higher than what one would naively expect if value were directly proportional to its availability. Second, in some cases, replacing fractions of a component in shorter maintenance blocks spread over multiple years is better than replacing it all at once during a longer outage, even through the overall availability of the plant is lower in the former scenario.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_01514
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Valuing maintenance strategies for fusion plants as part of a future electricity grid
Schwartz, Jacob A.
Ricks, W.
Kolemen, E.
Jenkins, J. D.
Physics and Society
Scheduled maintenance is likely to be lengthy and therefore consequential for the economics of fusion power plants. The maintenance strategy that maximizes the economic value of a plant depends on internal factors such as the cost and durability of the replaceable components, the frequency and duration of the maintenance blocks, and the external factors of the electricity system in which the plant operates. This paper examines the value of fusion power plants with various maintenance properties in a decarbonized United States Eastern Interconnection circa 2050. Seasonal variations in electricity supply and demand mean that certain times of year, particularly spring to early summer, are best for scheduled maintenance. Seasonality has two important consequences. First, the value of a plant can be 15% higher than what one would naively expect if value were directly proportional to its availability. Second, in some cases, replacing fractions of a component in shorter maintenance blocks spread over multiple years is better than replacing it all at once during a longer outage, even through the overall availability of the plant is lower in the former scenario.
title Valuing maintenance strategies for fusion plants as part of a future electricity grid
topic Physics and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.01514