The UK government must do more to support so-called pink hydrogen—produced from nuclear power—according to a position paper released by The UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association (UK HFCA).

Measures should include legislation, financial backing and more nuclear capacity, according to the report, titled The Role for Nuclear Enabled Hydrogen in Delivering Net Zero.

Nuclear offers low-carbon baseload supply that is inexpensive, large-scale and easily located close to electrolysers as well as having good grid connectivity, according to the paper, which says nuclear has the potential to support 40GW of hydrogen generating capacity by 2050.

“It is difficult for an electricity grid to match supply and demand by integrating a substantial capacity of baseload nuclear generation” Newborough, ITM

The technology can also offer valuable grid-balancing and energy storage at times of high renewable power generation, according to Marcus Newborough, development director of electrolyser manufacturer ITM Power, a member of the UK HFCA.

“It is difficult for an electricity grid to match supply and demand by integrating a substantial capacity of baseload nuclear generation, while at the same time integrating a substantial capacity of variable renewables,” he says.

“Electrolysis can provide the flexibility required to solve this challenge by absorbing nuclear electricity at times of high renewables generation—or vice versa.”

The technology is also better suited than green hydrogen, produced from renewables, to the steady-state demand for hydrogen that characterises several essential chemical processes, such as ammonia and methanol production.

Wide application

One nuclear power plant has the potential to generate enough hydrogen to decarbonise the heating of 1mn homes or 40,000 hydrogen buses, the paper says.

Pink hydrogen could play a key role in meeting the new UK production target for low-carbon hydrogen—recently doubled from 5GW to 10GW by 2030—according to Celia Greaves, CEO and founder of the UK HFCA.

“3GW of nuclear power with today’s technology could produce enough hydrogen to meet 22.5pc of this new target,” she said.

The UK government’s latest energy strategy indicated a strong pivot to nuclear energy, with plans for 24GW of capacity to be online by 2050.

Hydrogen projects need to be accelerated alongside nuclear projects that arise from this strategy, Greaves adds.

“With projects reaching FID each year until 2030, the role of nuclear-enabled hydrogen in these proposed plant operations must be considered today and decided on in the near future,” she says.

---

Author: Tom Young