pwr_march-2024 - 11

GLOBAL MONITOR
environment in order to achieve a sustainable
energy system coexisting with
biodiversity. " The ONDPs are designed to
ensure that offshore systems remain at
the " center of energy planning. "
UK Nuclear Plant Garners Consent
to Begin Construction. Sizewell C, a
3.2-GW EPR nuclear plant that is under
development in Suffolk, UK, on Jan. 15,
secured a Development Consent Order
(DCO) from the UK government, opening
the path for formal construction.
While the UK government granted project
stakeholders permission to build in
July 2022 and preparatory works have
begun, the project needed to satisfy
many obligations before construction
could commence under its DCO. The
DCO activates a £250 million package
for local communities. In November
2022, the UK government said it intends
to become a 50% partner with
EDF, a company owned by the French
government. In September 2023, the
UK government, Sizewell C, and EDF
launched an equity raise process to attract
private investors into the project.
" While triggering the DCO and entering
the construction phase is not dependent
on a final investment decision
(FID), constructive discussions with
qualified potential investors are continuing,
and a final investment decision
is expected later in 2024, " the project
website notes. In January, the UK government
announced £1.3 billion ($1.7
billion) of additional investment in Sizewell
C. So far, the UK has committed
£1.2 billion of investment to support
Sizewell C's development, which began
in 2012. The UK government's Civil
Nuclear Roadmap, launched in January
2024, suggests that the UK will make
a FID on the power plant by the end
of the current Parliament (which culminates
in December 2024). If approved,
Sizewell C could begin operations in
the mid-2030s.
Origin Approves Construction of 300MW
Battery Storage System. Australian
integrated energy company Origin Energy
has approved the construction of a
Fluence lithium-ion large-scale battery at
the Mortlake Power Station, a 566-MW
open-cycle gas-fired power station in Victoria.
The AU$400 million Mortlake Power
Station battery, expected to be commissioned
in late 2026, will have a capacity
of 300 MW and is expected to deliver
an output of up to 650 MWh. Origin said
the facility will help the Mortlake peaking
power plant " firm variable renewables
supply and maintain reliable power for
March 2024 | POWER
customers. " The peaking power station is
powered by gas from the Otway Basin.
The project has been awarded conditional
grant support from the Australian Renewable
Energy Agency (ARENA) as
part of its Large-Scale Battery Storage
Funding Round. " Origin's strategy is to
accelerate renewable energy and storage
in our portfolio, and we expect large-scale
batteries and other storage technologies
to play a vital role in Australia's energy
transition, " Origin CEO Frank Calabria said
on Jan. 29. The announcement follows
Origin's decision in April 2023 to approve
its first large-scale battery at Eraring,
which is currently under construction. The
AU$600 million Eraring project involves
the construction of a 460-MW lithiumion
battery storage system with a dispatch
duration of two hours, anticipated
to come online in the final quarter of the
2025 calendar year. The latter stages of
the battery will have a potential peak generation
output of 700 MW for up to four
hours, or lesser loads for longer periods
(such as 200 MW over 14 hours).
French Nuclear Waste-Consuming
Microreactor Gains Jacobs' Backing.
Global engineering giant Jacobs will
support NAAREA's (Nuclear Abundant
Affordable Resourceful Energy for
All's) molten salt microreactor concept,
which uses long-lived nuclear waste.
The French start-up's concept, XAMR, is
a fast reactor that operates at close to
atmospheric pressure and is salt-cooled,
" in which an inherently auto-regulated
fission reaction takes place at a high
temperature (around 700C), " the company
says on its website. " The inherent
dynamic of molten salt reactors is more
favorable from a safety point of view
than that of a solid fuel reactor, " it says.
NAAREA was one of the first companies
to receive funding support from the
France 2030 investment plan, a government
initiative that seeks to reinvigorate
the country's nuclear industry. NAAREA
says it is developing a production facility
that could produce the first microreactors
by 2027 and increase production
gradually over five years. " NAAREA's microreactors
are also designed to be installed
close to consumers to best meet
their needs, thus enabling the decentralization
of energy production, " it notes.
Jacobs is expected to assist NAAREA
with nuclear safety as well as several
engineering disciplines, including control
and instrumentation, mechanical,
and process. ■
-Sonal Patel is a POWER senior
associate editor.
www.powermag.com
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