영국의 주요 저탄소 발전원 원전 Nuclear still UK’s main low-carbon power source

Nuclear still UK’s main low-carbon power source

26 July 2018

Official statistics confirm nuclear as the largest source of low-carbon electricity in the UK, contributing 20.8% of all electricity generated last year, which was broadly stable on 2016 when it accounted for 21.1%.

Sizewell B (Image: EDF Energy)

영국의 주요 저탄소 발전원 원전 영국의 원자력발전은 최대 저탄소 발전원으로서 2016년의 경우 전력생산에 있어 21.1%의 점유율을, 2017년의 경우 20.8%의 점유율을 차지하고 있음이 공식 통계를 통해 밝혀졌다. 영국 BEIS(Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)가 발행하는 공식통계인 DUKEs(Digest of UK Energy Statistics) 2018년 7월 25일자에 따르면 영국의 저탄소 발전원은 2016년에 45.6%, 2017년에는 50.1%의 점유율을 보였다. 50.1%의 저탄소 발전원 중 원자력이 21.0%, 육상 및 해상풍력이 14.8%, 태양광 3.4% 및 수력이 2.3%를 차지했다. 영국원자력협회 측은 전기차와 태양광의 증가와 함께 영국이 탈탄소화 목표 달성에 큰 진전을 거두고 있다면서 전력수요 증가에 대응하면서 안정적이며 신뢰도 높은 저탄소 해법을 갖고 있다고 밝혔다. 2017년에 특히 바람이 많이 불어 도움이 되었지만 지난 28일 간은 바람이 적어 발전량 중 겨우 5.8%만을 충당했다면서 탈탄소화 목표를 달성하기 위해서는 균형잡힌 발전원 구성이 에너지 안보에 매우 중요하다고 밝혔다. 또한 신규 원자력발전소에 대한 투자는 영국 정부가 미래 전력원 구성에서 핵심적인 부분으로 인식하고 있다고 밝혔다. 영국의 현행 원전들은 1기를 제외하고는 모두 2030년까지 퇴역하게 된다. 원전이 생산한 전력은 2016년 71.7 TWh에서 2017년도에는 70.3 TWh로 1.9% 감소했으나 이는 2015년도 발전량과 거의 같은 수준이다. 이는 2016년도 대비 2017년도에 원전 계획예방정비 기간이 증가한 것에 기인한다. 하지만 원자력, 풍력, 태양광 및 수력 등 주요 발전원에 의한 2017년도 총 전력생산은 전년 대비 4.7% 증가했다. 한편, 원자력발전소 시설용량은 2015년도 9.49 GW, 2016년도 9.50 GW, 2017년도 9.36 GW로 서서히 감소하는 추세다. ndsl

The Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKEs), published today by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), shows low-carbon sources of electricity accounted for a record 50.1% of power generated in the UK in 2017, which is up from 45.6% the previous year.

This figure consists of 21.0% from nuclear, 14.8% wind (onshore and offshore), 3.4% solar and 2.3% hydro amongst low-carbon power sources.

Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the UK Nuclear Industry Association, said the DUKEs report had “highlighted the continued vital role” nuclear plays as part of the UK low- carbon generation mix, contributing 21% of all electricity, and 41% of overall low carbon power in 2017.

“While the UK has made great progress in meeting its decarbonisation targets, with the anticipated increase in electric vehicles and the electrification of heat, it is important the UK has a secure, reliable, low-carbon solution to meet this increased demand. While the UK benefitted from a particularly windy 2017, the current prolonged period of very low wind output with wind producing just 5.8% of generation over last 28 days demonstrates a balanced mix of power sources is necessary for energy security as well as for meeting our decarbonisation targets,” he said.

“Investment in new nuclear infrastructure is recognised as an integral part of the future mix in the UK government’s nuclear sector deal, particularly as all but one of our current fleet will retire by 2030,” he added.

Nuclear output was down 1.9% - from 71.7 TWh in 2016 to 70.3 TWh in 2017 - which is very similar to the level of generation in 2015. This reduction in nuclear generation was due to a slight increase in outages in 2017 compared to 2016, but primary electricity (nuclear plus wind, solar and hydro) output was up 4.7%.

Primary source

The share of electricity from primary sources (including nuclear, wind, solar and hydro) increased to 41% compared to 37.1% in 2016, while 59% of 2017 generation was from secondary sources (including coal, gas, oil, bioenergy and non-bio waste).

Us Nuclear Power Plants Map – Nuclear Power Stations Leak 

Detection Uk./Printable Map Collection

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Imports fell by 9.2% whilst exports increased 49.9%, resulting in the 16.8% reduction to net imports. This trend was a result of repairs to the UK-France interconnector in the first quarter of 2017, required after damage by a ship’s anchor in November 2016. Additionally, in the fourth quarter French nuclear outages resulted in increased French electricity prices and increased UK exports. The trend for decreasing utilisation of the French interconnector continued in 2017 falling to 67% from 72% in 2016.

Plant load factors, which measure how intensively each type of plant has been used, with a higher value demonstrating a higher intensity of use, was 46.1% for all plants. Nuclear stations had the highest plant load factor at 77.4%, which was 0.8 percentage points lower than that in 2016 due to more maintenance outages.

Thermal efficiency, which measures the efficiency with which the heat energy in fuel is converted into electrical energy, has for nuclear plants remained between 38% and 40% over the last decade, with it remaining at 40% in 2017. For nuclear stations, thermal efficiency is calculated using the quantity of heat released as a result of fission of the nuclear fuel inside the reactor.

Nuclear power plant capacity was 9.36 GW last year, down from 9.50 GW in 2016 and 9.49 GW in 2015.

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Nuclear-still-UK%E2%80%99s-main-low-carbon-power-source

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