Open AccessLIFE Cost of Electricity, Capital and Operating Costs
Author(s) -
T.M. Anklam
Publication year - 2011
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/1022881
Subject(s) - capital cost , commercialization , cost of electricity by source , power station , electricity , scope (computer science) , electricity generation , cost estimate , environmental economics , unit (ring theory) , unit cost , engineering , business , economics , power (physics) , computer science , systems engineering , microeconomics , physics , mathematics education , mathematics , marketing , quantum mechanics , electrical engineering , programming language
Successful commercialization of fusion energy requires economic viability as well as technical and scientific feasibility. To assess economic viability, we have conducted a pre-conceptual level evaluation of LIFE economics. Unit costs are estimated from a combination of bottom-up costs estimates, working with representative vendors, and scaled results from previous studies of fission and fusion plants. An integrated process model of a LIFE power plant was developed to integrate and optimize unit costs and calculate top level metrics such as cost of electricity and power plant capital cost. The scope of this activity was the entire power plant site. Separately, a development program to deliver the required specialized equipment has been assembled. Results show that LIFE power plant cost of electricity and plant capital cost compare favorably to estimates for new-build LWR's, coal and gas - particularly if indicative costs of carbon capture and sequestration are accounted for