Nuclear-hydrogen 'marriage' has potential, US energy loans chief says

Big Sky Industrial

28/09/2023 18:53

By Timothy Gardner
       WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Nuclear power plants
using low-cost electricity to make hydrogen from water, an
emerging fuel, could play a role in the energy transition, the
head of a U.S. office that distributes billions of dollars in
loans for new energy technologies said on Thursday.
    U.S. nuclear reactors tend to operate full-time because
shutting them is expensive and hard on the plants. Some have
stored the excess cheap power by using it to pump water supplies
to high elevations and generating hydropower when it is released
downhill.
    This process, called pumped hydro, could be replaced by
using the cheap nuclear power to run electrolyzers, machines
that separate hydrogen from water. The hydrogen could then be
used to fuel things like cement plants or, eventually,
hydrogen-burning vehicles to cut carbon emissions and curb
climate change. 
    "The whole concept of nuclear and hydrogen is one that makes
a lot of intellectual sense," Jigar Shah, the director of the
Loan Programs Office (LPO) of the U.S. Department of Energy,
told Reuters. 
    The two potentially have a "very interesting marriage," Shah
said in an interview ahead of the Reuters Events Hydrogen North
America conference in Houston from Oct. 11-12. 
    Since December 2001, the LPO has approved about $1.5 billion
for two hydrogen projects. Shah said there are about $30 billion
worth of U.S. hydrogen projects in the advanced stage that could
reach a final investment decision later next year. In addition,
there are about $5 billion to $8 billion in hydrogen projects in
the pipeline at LPO, he added. 
    Critics of nuclear power say that it is too expensive to
make a big difference on climate and that even so-called
advanced nuclear power projects could create toxic waste that
has to be dealt with. 
    Shah did not specify what kind of projects joining nuclear
and hydrogen LPO might consider. But he said most nuclear power
plant owners "are very excited about adding hydrogen to their
repertoire" and that nuclear power pilot projects being
developed in the marketplace could be conjoined with hydrogen. 
    "We hope that the data that comes from those pilot projects
gives them the confidence to hit the final investment decisions
on a much larger rollout," for hydrogen and nuclear, Shah said. 
   

 (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Rami Ayyub)
 ((timothy.gardner@thomsonreuters.com; +1 202 380-8348 (Twitter
@timogard); Reuters Messaging:
timothy.gardner.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))