EDF is exploring small scale hydrogen production as part of its plans to build a new nuclear plant at Sizewell in Essex.
Julia Pyke, director of financing and economic regulation at EDF Energy, told a webinar, yesterday (Thursday) that the company is looking at installing a 2MW electrolyser at Sizewell.
During the online event, which was organised by the New Nuclear Watch Institute, Pyke said the company wants to use the hydrogen produced by the electrolyser as fuel for the site’s construction vehicles.
The system would be the size of a shipping container and could easily be scaled up if the project proves to be successful.
Pyke said that hydrogen production was one of a number of uses that EDF is exploring for the power produced by nuclear beyond providing electricity to the grid.
This includes plans to install valves at the nuclear plant, if it is built, which would be used to draw off steam at different temperatures. She said EDF is “looking actively” at opportunities to use this steam for industrial processes or hydrogen production.
She said that the heat created by the nuclear generation process, which is usually wasted, could also be piped to district heating systems, adding that other countries have proved that it is possible to pump heat up to 80 kilometres.
More broadly, EDF is keen to find ways of harnessing nuclear and other low-carbon energy sources, like wind, together, Pyke said: “If we can combine with intermittent power from offshore wind, that’s a win for everybody.”
EDF is also working on a roadmap to net zero for the small town of Leiston, which is located close to the Sizewell site. She said work on the first demonstration projects should get under way in “a few months’ time”.
Ieuan Williams, head of policy & public affairs at the Nuclear Industry Association, said the industry has the potential to create thousands of extra construction workers in areas where the Conservative government won constituencies at last year’s general election.
He told the webinar: “From Cumbria to Anglesey, we can see things happen fairly quickly with good results to show by the next election. If we can’t convince them that nuclear is the way ahead now, we never will.”