| Thesis Abstract
As popular demand and regulation enable the rapid expansion of variable renewable generation, the electrical grid is seeing new challenges in providing
reliable, stable electricity to customers. In order to meet these challenges, additional flexibility will need to be introduced to the electrical grid. Nuclear Hybrid Energy Systems are predicted to offer significant flexibility by combining some or all of renewable, fossil, and nuclear generation with energy storage and a secondary product production capability. This study aims to demonstrate the value of battery electric storage to such a nuclear hybrid system, as well as to examine the effectiveness of Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) as a figure of merit for such a hybrid system. In this study, battery storage provided notable improvements in the utilization of variable wind generation. LCOE was found ineffective at capturing the benefits of storage and a revenue stream. |