Nuclear

Partners to explore hydrogen production from NuScale SMR

NuScale Power and other partners plan to develop and assess an integrated energy system for hydrogen production using electricity and process heat from NuScale’s VOYGR small modular reactor (SMR).
Partners to explore hydrogen production from NuScale SMR
NuScale Power Reactor Building (Courtesy: U.S. Dept. of Energy)

NuScale Power and other partners plan to develop and assess an integrated energy system for hydrogen production using electricity and process heat from NuScale’s VOYGR small modular reactor (SMR).

Other partners include Shell Global Solutions, Idaho National Laboratory, Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), Fuel Cell Energy, FPoliSolutions, and GSE Solutions.

A NuScale control room simulator would be modified to evaluate the dynamics of the energy system and would include models for the solid oxide electrolysis system for hydrogen production, in addition to a fuel cell for electricity production.

Research will consider the number of NuScale power modules needed for use in solid oxide fuel cell hydrogen production and the quantity of hydrogen stored for subsequent electricity production.

Local economic factors from the UAMPS Carbon Free Power Project will be assessed, such as the impact in the Western Energy Imbalance Market, resource adequacy programs and other local market factors to be defined.

“Hydrogen has been identified as a pathway for global decarbonization and NuScale’s SMR technology complements this goal through low carbon hydrogen production,” said John Hopkins, NuScale Power President and Chief Executive Officer.

Portland-based NuScale’s power module is a small pressurized water reactor, which can generate 77 MW of electricity (MWe). Its six-module VOYGR-6 can generate 462 MWe. The company also offers a 12-module VOYGR-12 (924 MWe) and a four-module VOYGR-4 (308 MWe).

VOYGR is the official name of NuScale’s SMR, which it plans to deploy for Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems’ (UAMPS) Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) at the Idaho National Lab (INL).

The CFPP project’s first module is projected to come online in 2029, with all six modules online by 2030. NuScale believes the six-module CFPP will act as a catalyst for subsequent SMR plant deployments across the U.S. and beyond.

Hydrogen is viewed as a way to decarbonize energy systems. In these markets, hydrogen would be used as an end-use product or as a stored energy source to be processed through a solid oxide fuel cell for electricity generation.

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