Hydro-climatic conditions and thermoelectric electricity generation - Part II: Model application to 17 nuclear power plants in Germany

An approach is applied here for analysing links between water availability and water temperature, air temperature and electricity generation by power plants. A highly disaggregated level is used combining a power plant model and hydrological models. It is applied to analyse effects of climate change on 17 nuclear power plants in Germany. Although even under baseline conditions reduced electricity generation can be observed, any further increase in air temperatures reduces electricity output of almost all nuclear power plants. The different technological and environmental conditions of each plant site mean that specific models are necessary for the simulations.