In this study, we use MIXOPTIM, a Monte-Carlo simulator of the behavior of a mix of power sources on a territory, to evaluate the performance of the present EU power mix. After a validation on the French mix, we applied it to the whole EU territory and made variational calculations around the present mix to evaluate the performance impacts induced by small changes in installed renewable power and nuclear power. | The role of power sources in the European electricity mix EPJ Nuclear Sci. Technol. 3 10 2017 Nuclear Sciences B. Bonin et al. published by EDP Sciences 2017 amp Technologies DOI epjn e2015-50012-0 Available online at http REGULAR ARTICLE The role of power sources in the European electricity mix Bernard Bonin1 Henri Safa1 Françoise Thais1 Axel Laureau2 Elsa Merle-Lucotte2 Joachim Miss3 Danylo Matselyuk3 Yann Richet3 and François-Marie Bréon4 1 Commissariat à l Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives Direction de l Énergie Nucléaire CEA Saclay Bât. 121 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex France 2 PHELMA Grenoble INP and LPSC IN2P3 CNRS 53 rue des Martyrs 38026 Grenoble cedex France 3 Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire 31 avenue de la Division Leclerc 92262 Fontenay-aux-Roses France 4 Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l Environnement L Orme des Merisiers 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex France Received 3 May 2015 Accepted 13 November 2015 Abstract. The ongoing debate in Europe about energy transition enhances the necessity to evaluate the performance of the envisaged mix of power sources in terms of production cost CO2 emissions and security of supply. In this study we use MIXOPTIM a Monte-Carlo simulator of the behavior of a mix of power sources on a territory to evaluate the performance of the present EU power mix. After a validation on the French mix we applied it to the whole EU territory and made variational calculations around the present mix to evaluate the performance impacts induced by small changes in installed renewable power and nuclear power. According to the analyzed criteria the study shows that a plausible way to keep an affordable MWh in Europe with minimal amount of CO2 emissions and acceptable security of supply could be to extend the life of existing Gen II nuclear reactors. All other options lead to the degradation of the mix performance on at least one of the three criteria listed above. 1 Introduction 2 .
