Repowering Coal

In this episode of the Energy Transitions Podcast Kirsty Gogan, co-founder and managing partner of Terra Praxis and Ruediger Koenig, independent energy advisor, are interviewed by Pamela Largue discuss how the current need to ensure energy security in Europe has put nuclear energy's potential contribution in the energy crisis into perspective. As the experts talk about the overreliance on gas and the risks it entails when there is a supply shortage, Kirsty said: "When you start looking at your previous position about nuclear energy as being too risky, we don't like it, it is because -really- you didn't see any benefits that would make it worthwhile".

Kirsty Gogan participated at the Aspen Energy Week on August 2, Session 5: "New Energy Symbiosis and Systems Thinking", where she presented on Terra Praxis REPOWER. Aspen Energy Week has served as a pivotal forum for candid conversations among a diverse group of leading energy system actors. The forum’s discussions focused on the future of the domestic energy system broadly, and in particular encourages leaders to devise, design, and deploy solutions to the climate crisis. It convened energy entrepreneurs, industry executives, regulators, policymakers, and thought leaders in a set of moderated discussions that draw upon the full range of perspectives in the room in pursuit of breakthrough ideas and action.

The IEA released this new report that will look at how nuclear energy could help address two major crises – energy and climate – facing the world today. The study team acknowledges having benefitted from meetings from Terra Praxis and highlights our repowering coal project: “Various initiatives can facilitate the replacement of coal-fired plants with SMRs, such as that of Terra Praxis which aims to prepare standardized and pre- licensed designs supported by automated project development and design tools.” “In today’s context of the global energy crisis, skyrocketing fossil fuel prices, energy security challenges, and ambitious climate commitments, I believe nuclear power has a unique opportunity to stage a comeback,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol.

This article by David Dalton describes REPOWER. Terra Praxis has assembled a consortium of partners including Bryden Wood, Microsoft, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and University at Buffalo, along with a consortium of global utilities, to launch the ‘Repowering Coal’ initiative. The aim is to provide standardized, pre-licensed designs supported by automated project development and design tools to enable customers to be ready to start construction on their SMR projects in the late 2020s. “The result of this repowering will be carbon-free power plants that are cheaper to operate than before, and to ensure continuity for communities reliant on these plants for energy, jobs, and continued economic development,” Eric Ingersoll, co-founder and managing partner of Terra Praxis said. “The challenge is not only to build enough clean electricity generation to power the world, but to do so quickly while building the infrastructure required to decarbonize end-use sectors such as heat, industry, and transport” Kirsty Gogan said at the Nuclear Innovation Conference in Amsterdam.

This discussion addressed marginalized communities that are potentially interested in new nuclear power projects, evaluate resource needs for a just transition, survey and prioritize approaches to mitigate disproportionate impacts from the transition away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy, and discuss potential approaches and momentum to increase the diversity of talent in the nuclear energy sector. The session was moderated by Jessica Lovering, Good Energy Collective and Fastest Path to Zero Institute and included discussants: Lee Anderson - Utility Workers Union of America, Kirsty Gogan - Terra Praxis, Jake Kincer - Energy for Growth Hub and Trevor McDonald - Duke Energy Corporation.

This article discusses the benefits of repowering coal power plants with advanced heat solutions. It is based on our Built Environment Matters podcast featuring Terra Praxis Co-founder Kirsty Gogan in conversation with Bryden Wood's Head of Global Systems, Jaimie Johnston MBE. To support Terra Praxis' REPOWER initiative, Bryden Wood is developing a standardized, scalable building system, configuring the design in such a way as to be able to meet any kind of site or plant requirements, while also accommodating a range of different heat sources. This is being achieved using a highly automated design, and a design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA) approach.

Bryden Wood has partnered with Terra Praxis for REPOWER, the largest single carbon abatement opportunity on the planet that could greatly accelerate the clean energy transition into being. Amanda Doyle spoke to Adrian La Porta, Technical Director of Process Engineering at design company Bryden Wood about replacing coal-fired boilers with nuclear reactors. In Adrian's words: ''Switching to nuclear reactors would provide a benefit to communities as the power plants remain operational'.

This article describes the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit 2022 panel “Beyond Baseload: Nuclear’s Role in the New Energy Landscape,” where Anthropocene’s partners and colleagues shed light on the applications and benefits of nuclear energy beyond baseload power. Moderator Dr. Jenifer Shafer (ARPA-E) was joined by Dr. Rita Baranwal (Westinghouse), Dr. Charles Forsberg (MIT), Dr. Jessica Lovering (Good Energy Collective), and Eric Ingersoll (Terra Praxis), who outlined the Terra Praxis “REPOWER” system, a fast, low-cost, and repeatable strategy to repower hundreds of existing coal plants that would otherwise continue to burn coal, and whose closure is likely to encounter fierce political resistance and cause economic harm to communities.

The ARPA-E summit convened in Denver, Colorado, from May 23 through 25. On Tuesday 24, Eric Ingersoll presented our REPOWER platform at the session 'Beyond Baseload: Nuclear’s Role in the New Energy Landscape'. Eric shared the panel with distinguished experts: Rita Baranwal, Chief Technology Officer at Westinghouse Electric Company; Dr. Charles Forsberg, Principal Research Scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Dr. Jessica Lovering, Co-Founder & Executive Director at Good Energy Collective and Dr. Jenifer Shafer, Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA‑E).

Repowering of the existing global coal plant fleet with small modular reactors (SMRs) represents an immense carbon abatement opportunity suggests non-profit Terra Praxis. The key to rapid implementation is digital innovation in infrastructure, design, engineering, and construction. The Terra Praxis REPOWERl concept is a fast, low-cost, and repeatable strategy to repower hundreds of existing coal plants that would otherwise continue to burn coal, and whose closure is likely to encounter fierce political resistance and cause economic harm to communities. It will deliver a substantial portion of the clean electricity required to achieve net zero by 2050 by replacing coal-fired boilers at existing power plants with SMRs, which could be ready for deployment as soon as 2028.

How Much Would It Cost to Reduce Global Warming? $131 Trillion Is One Answer. Money is a sticking point in climate-change negotiations around the world. U.S. utilities and startup firms are trying to convince lawmakers, regulators and customers that they can convert aging coal power plants to house small nuclear reactors, a so-far unproven way to deliver electricity. The burgeoning idea would place fleets of small, modular nuclear reactors at or near former coal-fired power plants and is taking hold across the electricity industry. Utility companies see it as a way to repurpose coal plants they are set to retire and are joining with startups developing the reactors, looking to tap into billions of dollars in federal funding.

Kirsty Gogan is an internationally sought-after advisor to governments, industry, academic networks and NGOs. She is regularly invited as an expert speaker on science communication, climate change, competitiveness and innovation. In this interview, she explains the Repowering Coal initiative, Terra Praxis' goals and partners, the algorithmic design tools being created with Bryden Wood, the digital platform being developed, the pros and cons of SMRs and Advanced Modular Reactors, and provides some advice for energy utilities.

This NEA workshop explored recent experiences and the development of construction and manufacturing techniques—focusing on near-term advances in nuclear construction, while also providing some indication of more long-term improvements that could be made on the basis of design innovations. Finally, workshop participants examined the role of regulators as well as codes and standards organizations to facilitate a wider adoption of advanced construction and manufacturing methodologies. Day 2 of the workshop was opened by Kirsty Gogan, who urged the nuclear industry to lower costs substantially through programmatic learning—because nuclear energy is needed in order to reach Net Zero, and at present: "What we are looking at now is a 3-4º and we have no plan to avoid that outcome." Eric Ingersoll presented Terra Praxis' Repowering Coal project in the Session 3: Panel on improving constructability with small, modular and innovative nuclear designs.

This event showed how communities can be uplifted by advanced heat source technologies and breakthrough innovations. Learn the ways countries and organizations are working to bring the social, economic, and environmental benefits of nuclear energy to communities around the world as they make clean energy transitions. Moderator: Jon Carmack, Senior Technical Advisor, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy. Speakers: • Kirsty Gogan, Founder and Managing Director, Terra Praxis. • Christine King, Director, Gateway for Advanced Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN). • Chuck Tack, Vice President, Nuclear Operations, PacifiCorp. • Guy Lonechild, Chief Executive Officer, First Nations Power Authority, Canada. • Paweł Gładysz, Faculty of Energy and Fuels, AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland. • Princess Mthombeni, Founder, Africa4Nuclear.

Terra Praxis' partner, Bryden Wood, joined our team at CERAWeek in Houston, where we presented our work on Repowering Coal.