Mott MacDonald has completed the third phase of its System Requirements for Alternative Nuclear Technologies (ANT) project, commissioned by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI). The consultancy’s research has made a significant contribution to understanding the role that small modular reactors (SMRs) could play in the UK’s future energy system.
The ANT project has contributed towards the ETI’s new Preparing for Deployment of a UK Small Modular Reactor by 2030 report, which states that SMRs could be operating in the UK by 2030. The report also outlines the crucial role the government has to play in encouraging early investor confidence by developing a policy framework which progressively reduces risks for developers.
Mott MacDonald’s research demonstrates the vital role that SMRs can play as combined heat and power plants, which would provide low carbon heat to homes and businesses via a large-scale district heating network, as well as low carbon electricity to the national grid. The consultancy undertook engineering and cost modelling services to determine the feasibility of extracting heat from light water reactor-type SMR steam cycles to supply district heat networks. This was found to be technically feasible and relatively easy to implement, with only modest cost implications.
Sam Friggens, Mott MacDonald’s project manager, said: “Meeting the UK’s climate change obligations will require new sources of low carbon heat and hot water in our buildings. Large-scale district heat networks, like those currently used in Copenhagen and Helsinki, are a potential solution to this challenge and our work shows that SMRs could be a viable source of heat for these networks, as well as electricity for the national grid.”
The ETI’s Preparing for Deployment of a UK Small Modular Reactor by 2030 insight can be viewed online: https://www.eti.co.uk/insights/preparing-for-deployment-of-a-uk-small-modular-reactor-by-2030