Hydrogen cogeneration – will nuclear rise to the challenge?

Hydrogen cogeneration – will nuclear rise to the challenge?

Earlier in the year, over 80 delegates gathered to hear about projects from across the hydrogen, nuclear and wider industries at a Frazer-Nash event held at the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (‘AMRC’) Knowledge Transfer Centre in Rotherham.

One interest was common to all in attendance - the desire to stay abreast of industry news and discuss the opportunities presented by hydrogen cogeneration.

Nicole Lee, Consultant at Frazer-Nash commented:

“We felt it was important to set up this event as cogeneration has potential to bring significant value to industry. Frazer-Nash has extensive project experience which can help to inform future strategy and decarbonisation plans across the hydrogen and nuclear sectors.”

The agenda covered a wide range of topics, including the latest hydrogen production methods and nuclear technologies, innovation projects contributing to decarbonisation goals, and the potential industrial and social impacts of cogeneration developments.

Key takeaways from the event include:

• Hydrogen will play a major role in decarbonisation where electrification is challenging. The UK government has set a vision of hydrogen production from renewables, nuclear and other energy sources. Notably, nuclear-enabled hydrogen is recognised as a low carbon source of energy.
• Work carried out as part of the Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply 2 Competition identified that thermal and electrical energy synergies allow nuclear-enabled hydrogen to offer improved efficiencies and financial competitiveness for low carbon hydrogen production, in comparison to current commercial alternatives.
• Hydrogen transportation and storage infrastructure will need to evolve in line with predicted demand in order to meet Net Zero ambitions.
• Cogeneration can contribute to demand flexibility uses, through the generation of a readily stored feedstock when demand for electricity is lower than the supply.

Neil Leggatt, Group Business Manager at Frazer-Nash commented:

“An inspiring day highlighting the important role that nuclear and hydrogen can play in supporting decarbonisation. It was great to have representatives from both industries in the same room at the same time to explore the cogeneration potential. Based on my discussions during the day and subsequent feedback, the day was an overwhelming success, and we will look to build on this in future events”.

Panel discussions during the day also considered future benefits of hydrogen cogeneration. Cogeneration hubs have the potential for positive industrial impact, for example through the production of alternative feedstocks such as ammonia. This can contribute to the decarbonisation of heavy industry, which has traditionally been difficult. Social benefits can also result, such as the development of local communities, and the increased generation capacity providing energy security for consumers during global energy crises.

Sukhbinder Singh, Business Manager at Frazer-Nash commented:

“Tackling the challenges of energy security and net zero will require significant collaboration and working across industries in new ways. Events like this are vital in connecting industries together with policy makers to ensure we can collectively break down the barriers ahead. We will continue to work collaboratively with those in the nuclear and hydrogen industries to successfully deploy nuclear-enabled hydrogen as well as supporting the production of other vectors such as ammonia and synthetic fuels via nuclear energy”.

We would like to thank all of the guests and speakers who contributed to the discussion.

If you would like to find out more, please contact Sukhbinder via s.singh@fnc.co.uk.