Data for "The value of fusion energy to a decarbonized United States electric grid"

Schwartz, Jacob A. ; Ricks, Wilson ; Kolemen, Egemen ; Jenkins, Jesse D.
Issue date: 2022
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY)
Cite as:
Schwartz, Jacob A., Ricks, Wilson, Kolemen, Egemen, & Jenkins, Jesse D. (2022). Data for "The value of fusion energy to a decarbonized United States electric grid" [Data set]. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University. https://doi.org/10.34770/f8em-3c49
@electronic{schwartz_jacob_a_2022,
  author      = {Schwartz, Jacob A. and
                Ricks, Wilson and
                Kolemen, Egemen and
                Jenkins, Jesse D.},
  title       = {{Data for "The value of fusion energy to
                a decarbonized United States electric gr
                id"}},
  publisher   = {{Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Pri
                nceton University}},
  year        = 2022,
  url         = {https://doi.org/10.34770/f8em-3c49}
}
Description:

Fusion could be a part of future decarbonized electricity systems, but it will need to compete with other technologies. In particular, pulsed tokamaks plants have a unique operational mode, and evaluating which characteristics make them economically competitive can help select between design pathways. Using a capacity expansion and operations model, we determined cost thresholds for pulsed tokamaks to reach a range of penetration levels in a future decarbonized US Eastern Interconnection. The required capital cost to reach a fusion capacity of 100 GW varied from $3000 to $7200/kW, and the equilibrium penetration increases rapidly with decreasing cost. The value per unit power capacity depends on the variable operational cost and on cost of its competition, particularly fission, much more than on the pulse cycle parameters. These findings can therefore provide initial cost targets for fusion more generally in the United States.

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