Pre-study for SMR and Nuclear Establishment in Norway
(2023) MVKM01 20231Department of Energy Sciences
- Abstract
- Norway has Europe’s highest share of renewable electricity production and the lowest power sector emissions. Thanks to the country’s stable power production, Norway has affordable and stable access to electricity, leading to industries choosing to relocate to the country. To keep this industry, the country needs to meet the increasing electricity demand and ensure it is still competitively priced. Forecasts of the electricity needs in the future to 2050 indicate that electricity demand can increase by 50 TWh in the lowest scenario and up to 160 TWh in the highest scenario. To meet these needs, the forecasts indicate that new wind power will meet half the demands and the rest by increased solar and hydropower [1]. However, wind power on... (More)
- Norway has Europe’s highest share of renewable electricity production and the lowest power sector emissions. Thanks to the country’s stable power production, Norway has affordable and stable access to electricity, leading to industries choosing to relocate to the country. To keep this industry, the country needs to meet the increasing electricity demand and ensure it is still competitively priced. Forecasts of the electricity needs in the future to 2050 indicate that electricity demand can increase by 50 TWh in the lowest scenario and up to 160 TWh in the highest scenario. To meet these needs, the forecasts indicate that new wind power will meet half the demands and the rest by increased solar and hydropower [1]. However, wind power on land has recently been controversial over the last few years in Norway due to land disputes. The uncertainty of new investments in production, the European energy market being affected by the war in Europe, and the reduced gas supply has led to higher electricity prices in Norway and the risk of having a power deficit by 2027. It has also led Norway to rethink its energy investments to keep up with the green shift. New nuclear technologies, such as small modular reactors (SMRs), are therefore gaining more focus and being investigated.
With help from nuclear consultants from WSP, the focus of this thesis project has been to establish a process for evaluating geographical considerations and different counties’ energy needs in Norway for a site selection for SMRs. By doing and reviewing an energy mapping of Norway’s county’s energy production, consumption, and energy balance for 2021, different operators of interest were chosen for further investigation for a siting. After selecting a county, a fully geographical information system (GIS) SMR siting was performed. The county was subjected to a multi-criteria decision analysis based on specific criteria drawn from IAEA regulation documents and from nuclear consultants from WSP. Criteria weights were assigned concerning the chosen county’s geographical and infrastructure advantages and disadvantages. The three cases, Open, Normal and Restrictive, were conducted to assign spatial suitability advantages for all the criteria. Models were then created in a ArcGIS to identify possible candidate sites.
Four different geographical maps were constructed showing suitable sites for SMRs, ranging from very suitable to unsuitable. The first map without any restrictions offers more potential than the other cases due to no restrictions being introduced. The Open case provides the most potential among the three cases with restrictions due to the low geographical distances considered for the restriction criteria. The Restrictive case offers the most minor suitable area than the other due to the high geographical distance considered for all the criteria. The Normal case falls between the Open and Restrictive. (Less) - Popular Abstract
- The world's largest producer of clean energy is Norway, where 98.5% of the energy produced comes from renewable sources. Most of the energy produced in the country comes from hydropower, and thanks to the country’s stable power production, Norway has affordable and stable access to electricity. However, forecasts expect that by 2027, Norway will risk having a higher energy consumption than energy production and thereby an energy shortage. The construction of new energy production is therefore being investigated. But with new wind power and hydropower facing public resistance, new energy technologies, such as new nuclear technologies called small modular reactors (SMRs), are gaining more focus, and being investigated in the country.
The... (More) - The world's largest producer of clean energy is Norway, where 98.5% of the energy produced comes from renewable sources. Most of the energy produced in the country comes from hydropower, and thanks to the country’s stable power production, Norway has affordable and stable access to electricity. However, forecasts expect that by 2027, Norway will risk having a higher energy consumption than energy production and thereby an energy shortage. The construction of new energy production is therefore being investigated. But with new wind power and hydropower facing public resistance, new energy technologies, such as new nuclear technologies called small modular reactors (SMRs), are gaining more focus, and being investigated in the country.
The master thesis, which this article is based on is divided into two parts. The first part investigates Norway’s different county’s energy production, consumption, and energy balance to see which county is importing energy from neighboring counties and could benefit from new energy production being constructed within the county. The second part investigates the chosen county’s geographical and infrastructural advantages and disadvantages for constructing an SMR.
By analyzing energy production and consumption data from 2021, every county’s energy balance in Norway can be calculated. The energy balance is the relation between energy production and consumption and indicates if the county consumes or produces more energy than it needs.
The analyze resulted in the county Møre og Romsdal being chosen for further investigation due to its low energy balance and its high energy consumption from the industry.
Møre og Romsdal was then evaluated based on different criteria taken from SMR siting guidelines from the International Atomic Energy Agency, similar studies, interviews with nuclear consultants from WSP, and the county’s geographical and infrastructure advantages and disadvantages.
Two groups were then set up with different criteria. The restriction criteria made an area either suitable or unsuitable. These included airports, flooding, protected areas, industry, landslides, population, and hydropower plants.
The evaluation criteria gave an area a suitability score based on the distance to roads, railways, cooling water, transmission lines, and topography.
Both groups were combined and analyzed with the ArcGIS Pro computer program, which can explore, analyze, and visualize data to create 2D and 3D maps. With ArcGIS Pro, four different suitability maps were created, showing suitable sites for SMRs, ranging from very suitable to unsuitable.
The results showed that constructing an SMR is entirely possible in Møre og Romsdal, with 58 square kilometers available in the very suitable category. The results are, however, heavily dependent on the transportation network, with railways only existing in a small part of the county. If the county would invest in a new type of transportation, such as new ports close to the SMR construction site, a significantly larger area would open up to the very suitable category, and the possibility of constructing an SMR would be even more promising. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9141842
- author
- Nordström, Johan Stefan LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MVKM01 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Energy mapping, Nuclear power, SMR, small modular reactors, siting, Norway, Energy
- report number
- LUTMDN/TMHP-23/5559-SE
- ISSN
- 0282-1990
- language
- English
- id
- 9141842
- date added to LUP
- 2023-11-29 13:50:51
- date last changed
- 2023-11-29 13:50:51
@misc{9141842,
abstract = {{Norway has Europe’s highest share of renewable electricity production and the lowest power sector emissions. Thanks to the country’s stable power production, Norway has affordable and stable access to electricity, leading to industries choosing to relocate to the country. To keep this industry, the country needs to meet the increasing electricity demand and ensure it is still competitively priced. Forecasts of the electricity needs in the future to 2050 indicate that electricity demand can increase by 50 TWh in the lowest scenario and up to 160 TWh in the highest scenario. To meet these needs, the forecasts indicate that new wind power will meet half the demands and the rest by increased solar and hydropower [1]. However, wind power on land has recently been controversial over the last few years in Norway due to land disputes. The uncertainty of new investments in production, the European energy market being affected by the war in Europe, and the reduced gas supply has led to higher electricity prices in Norway and the risk of having a power deficit by 2027. It has also led Norway to rethink its energy investments to keep up with the green shift. New nuclear technologies, such as small modular reactors (SMRs), are therefore gaining more focus and being investigated.
With help from nuclear consultants from WSP, the focus of this thesis project has been to establish a process for evaluating geographical considerations and different counties’ energy needs in Norway for a site selection for SMRs. By doing and reviewing an energy mapping of Norway’s county’s energy production, consumption, and energy balance for 2021, different operators of interest were chosen for further investigation for a siting. After selecting a county, a fully geographical information system (GIS) SMR siting was performed. The county was subjected to a multi-criteria decision analysis based on specific criteria drawn from IAEA regulation documents and from nuclear consultants from WSP. Criteria weights were assigned concerning the chosen county’s geographical and infrastructure advantages and disadvantages. The three cases, Open, Normal and Restrictive, were conducted to assign spatial suitability advantages for all the criteria. Models were then created in a ArcGIS to identify possible candidate sites.
Four different geographical maps were constructed showing suitable sites for SMRs, ranging from very suitable to unsuitable. The first map without any restrictions offers more potential than the other cases due to no restrictions being introduced. The Open case provides the most potential among the three cases with restrictions due to the low geographical distances considered for the restriction criteria. The Restrictive case offers the most minor suitable area than the other due to the high geographical distance considered for all the criteria. The Normal case falls between the Open and Restrictive.}},
author = {{Nordström, Johan Stefan}},
issn = {{0282-1990}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Pre-study for SMR and Nuclear Establishment in Norway}},
year = {{2023}},
}