Shell intends to produce hydrogen using power from small nuclear power stations.
The British business and NuScale Power have an agreement in this regard. The only business whose concept for small nuclear power plants has been approved in the US is that one. Together with Shell, NuScale will look into whether these may be utilized to produce inexpensive hydrogen.
An essential source of energy for the green economy is hydrogen. Hydrogen could be used as fuel for vehicles such as ships, trucks, and even factories instead of gasoline. It can also function as a particular type of battery. For instance, energy from solar and wind power sources that cannot be used immediately can be transformed into hydrogen and then transformed back into electricity.
Hydrogen has a wide range of applications, thus several production methods are also being investigated. In the opinion of supporters, nuclear energy is the best option since, in the absence of excess green electricity, it can manufacture hydrogen without emitting any CO2.
Smaller nuclear reactors are being developed by a number of companies, including NuScale. These are easier to construct and safer to use in the event of an emergency than larger reactors. Locations are also simpler to find as a result. But at the earliest, the end of the decade will see the completion of NuScale’s first tiny nuclear reactor.
Two phases will be required to accomplish the project, which is titled “Development and Demonstration of a Concept for an Economically Optimized IES.” Idaho National Laboratory, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), Fuel Cell Energy, FPoliSolutions, and GSE Solutions are further study participants.
Through hydrogen production, NuScale’s flexible SMR technology has the potential to balance and stabilize power grids that are heavily dependent on renewable energy sources. When energy demand is high and renewable energy generation is low, the reliability of the energy markets is a worry. In these markets, hydrogen would be used as a final product or as a form of stored energy that could be processed through an RSOFC to produce electricity.
To assess the dynamics of the IES, a NuScale control room simulator will be developed, and models for the Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell (SOEC) system for hydrogen production as well as an RSOFC for electricity production will be included.
The quantity of hydrogen stored for later power production will also be taken into account, along with the number of NuScale Power Modules required for usage in SOEC hydrogen production. The influence on the Western Energy Imbalance Market, resource adequacy initiatives, and other yet-to-be-defined local market characteristics from the UAMPS Carbon Free Power Project will also be evaluated.
