The emergence of ‘smart’ electricity grids and small modular reactors may have significant impact on future electricity markets. Significant progress in data acquisition systems and information processing have led to smart grids capable of smoothing load/demand curves and integrating energy storage systems, allowing a baseload system to operate at a stable level for longer periods of time in a predictive fashion (based on anticipated grid demand determined from historical trends and current state estimators) rather than varying production intermittently based on fluctuations in renewable energy availability. These advances are also key to reliable operation of hybrid system architecture.

Smart grids could enable the implementation of smaller input sources, such as SMRs, by balancing the load dynamics at a local scale rather than at the large scale required by traditional, large-scale nuclear plants. In this case, SMRs could be sited based on other subsystem requirements. Siting could be in the vicinity of the process feedstock (e. g. coal, natural gas, biomass), near the end-user (e. g. local community or commercial industry), or near the coupled renewable input source. Such siting would reduce transport distances for both electricity and thermal energy, thereby minimizing transmission losses. Hence, SMRs offer operational flexibility, not to mention the already discussed investment flexibility, by introducing a broad range of production opportunities and simplified coupling to renewable sources, and coupling to many more process applications than large-scale nuclear implementations.

The 2012 OECD NEA report on nuclear energy and renewables [1] makes several recommendations regarding full representation (transparency) of power-generation costs at the system level and the need for low-carbon energy technologies in current and future energy markets. Specifically, this report points to the need for low-carbon technologies to supplement variable renewables as renewables continue to grow to a larger grid share. While the report goes on to note that nuclear energy can provide flexible, low-carbon back-up capacity as the renewable penetration on the grid increases, the introduction of SMRs in a hybridized system takes this recommendation a step further. Direct integration of low-carbon, baseload, dispatchable energy (e. g. nuclear) with low-carbon renewables allows policy goals for reduced GHG emissions to be met while retaining high-capacity factors for the baseload source via load — dynamic operation (operating at steady state power to produce multiple products). The NEA report further recommends establishing flexibility at the system level for future low-carbon systems. Accomplishing this flexibility will require increased load-following capability in dispatchable energy sources, such as nuclear, expanded energy storage systems, and increased responsiveness to demand changes. Again, the proposed hybrid energy system configurations would meet this need at a local level via load-dynamic operation (vs. load-following) while reliably meeting the grid demand.