IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency

09/24/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/24/2021 09:52

Nuclear and Renewables: Modelling Tool to Evaluate Hybrid Energy Systems

On the path to carbon neutrality, more than 40 countries and the European Union - representing over 70 per cent of global CO2 emissions - have committed to net zero objectives, most of them by 2050. The deployment of low-carbon energy sources will be key to reducing emissions from the energy sector, in which electricity and heat production account for about half of all greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. As countries plan their route to net zero - i.e. to have no net greenhouse gas emissions - advanced modelling tools will be essential to assess the two main options for low-carbon energy: nuclear power and renewables.

On the margins of the 65th IAEA General Conference, IAEA experts hosted two virtual events on this topic on Thursday: one featuring a new coordinated research project (CRP) on hybrid energy systems and another on a modelling framework to study the integration of various low-carbon energy options. "Nuclear-renewable hybrid energy systems are integrated facilities comprised of nuclear reactors, renewable energy generation and industrial processes," said Haseeb Ur Rehman, a nuclear engineer at the IAEA, who presented at one of these events. "Hybrid energy systems combine continuously changing and intermittent wind, tidal, solar and wave energy sources with base load hydroelectric and nuclear energy sources."