Exelon is exploring nuclear power plant hydrogen production

Exelon Corporation, an American nuclear electric power generation company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, is spearheading a unique project to demonstrate integrated hydrogen production, storage, and utilization facility at an already existing nuclear plant facility. This opportunity if realized presents a lucrative revenue stream for existing nuclear plants many of which are struggling to operate competitively. Exelon has business operations in 48 states in the US and generates annual revenue of approximately USD 36 billion. 

This project is one of 29 projects selected by the US Department of Energy to receive up to USD 40 million in the fiscal year 2019 federal funding to advance and demonstrate the concept named H2@Scale. Exelon plans to achieve a breakthrough in enabling reliable large-scale hydrogen generation, transport, storage, and utilization in the US across multiple sectors of industry. 

The company plans to collaborate with a Norwegian firm Nel Hydrogen, and other national laboratories including Idaho National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory. It plans to select a site for installing a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer and an associated hydrogen storage system. 

This latest development comes amidst the nuclear power generation industry’s declining profitability caused a variety of factors including cheap natural gas power and increasingly cost-efficient solar and wind power. Hydrogen gas is generated using PEM technology very similar to fuel cells except here a thin, solid, ion-conducting membrane acts as the electrolyte instead of the aqueous solution.

With a target size of 1 MW, the nuclear hydrogen project will employ a test electrolyzer from Nel Hydrogen. Excel brings its valuable knowledge gained in operating the technology using a smaller electrolyzer at a fossil plant. Excel utilizes the hydrogen produced at that plant for onsite turbine generator cooling purposes.