In this analysis we will examine the economic costs and benefits of building dozens of SMRs on recently retired coal power plant (CPP) sites across Texas to determine the viability of a grid or “program-level” approach to nuclear power plant (NPP) planning in the United States. Previous studies have indicated that utilizing stranded infrastructure assets at retired CPPs, known as the “coal-to-nuclear” (C2N) transition, could greatly reduce the amount of time and capital required to build just a single commercial SMR NPP. A discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis was created using data from regional electricity markets, C2N studies, and other industry sources to measure the potential value of SMR projects. The analysis includes multiple scenarios to account for varying project sizes, changes in technology learning rates, and recently implemented energy tax credits. Results indicate that changing the rate of learning has a minimal effect on the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) up until a certain point, after which both the learning rate and LCOE plateau. The most significant cost reductions came as a result of tax credits and C2N cost enhancements, lower estimated to LCOE to a competitive range of $36-46/MWh. Program-level benefits will likely be the result of cost sharing and risk modularization rather than direct improvement in metrics like LCOE and net present valueEnergy and Earth Resource
