NuGas gathers steam

A new method of electricity generation combines the advantages of large-scale nuclear power generation with modern combined cycle gas turbine-based power technology (CCGT).

The innovation, developed and patented at international consultant services company, PB Power has been designed to create a hybrid system, for either retrofitting to existing nuclear stations or newbuild installations.

The process, known as NuGas, links the steam cycles of two power plants — one nuclear, the other gas turbine in combined cycle — to provide improved efficiency and greater flexibility. The system combines the advantages of both nuclear and gas power generation, which will create a reliable, efficient hybrid system, according to one of the engineers behind the design, Paul Willson, a PB project director.

Willson said that gas turbines used in today’s CCGT power stations are the result of billions of pounds of research funding. ‘Manufacturers are finding that even the smallest incremental improvements needed to achieve a combined cycle efficiency of 60 per cent have become prohibitively expensive and complex to achieve without sacrificing reliability,’ he said.

Willson said he and another PB engineer thought one way to improve the efficiency and reliability of CCGT would be to combine it with nuclear power — which has been a proven reliable and carbonfree source of energy. ‘NuGas is very elegant and simple,’ he said. ‘Some say it’s almost obvious.’