Cogeneration Power-Desalination in Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) for Load Following in Indonesia

A large number of industries in East Java, Indonesia make up a high demand for electricity, especially during peak hours (6-10 p.m.). To cope with this short-term peak demand, load following scheme has been extensively used, fueled by environmentally- and economically-costly resources such as oil and gas. Meanwhile, renewable energy, especially wind and solar, as popular fuel substitutes for load following, is very unreliable due its infamous intermittency. We propose to shift this inefficient fossil-based energy generation framework with reliable nuclear by deploying Small Modular Reactor (SMR), a small size nuclear power plant (under 300 MWe). Furthermore, a cogeneration with seawater desalination to adapt with Indonesian needs of clean water for various purposes is embedded in our proposal. We consider Korean System Integrated Modular Advanced Reactor (SMART) for this purpose due to its proven deployment for power-desalination cogeneration system. The reactor and desalination plant is proposed to be placed in the Greater Surabaya Area (Sidoarjo Regency, Surabaya City and Gresik Regency) based on four criteria: coastal topology, low index of tsunami and earthquake risk, and high industrial density. The proposed plant consists of six SMART reactors, one of which produces electricity only on peak hours. Based on our preliminary economic analysis, for an 8% discount rate, the proposed setting yield to a payback period of 14.7 years - a competitive energy investment scheme with sustainable and reliable operations. Also, it proved to have better investment Rate of Return (ROR) compared to conventional power plants.