Power-to-Power Hydrogen Demonstration Involving Largest U.S. Nuclear Plant Gets Federal Funding
Source: Sonal Patel · CALGARY HERALD · | October 14, 2021
Source: Palo Verde is a three-unit 4-GW nuclear power plant located approximately 50 miles west of Phoenix, Arizona. Arizona Public Service operates the plant and owns 29.1% of Palo Verde Units 1 and 3 and approximately 17% of Unit 2. In addition, APS leases approximately 12.1% of Unit 2, resulting in a 29.1% combined ownership and leasehold interest in that unit. APS shares plant ownership with Salt River Project (17.5%), El Paso Electric (15.8%) Southern California Edison (15.8%), PNM Resources (10.2%), Southern California Public Power Authority (5.9%), and LADWP (5.7%). Courtesy: APS
Palo Verde Generating Station, a 4-GW nuclear power plant in Arizona, is gearing up to produce hydrogen from a low-temperature electrolysis (LTE) system, and that hydrogen will then be used to fuel a natural gas–fired power plant owned by Arizona Public Service (APS). The innovative power-to-power demonstration led by PNW Hydrogen is set to receive $20 million in federal funding, including $12 million from the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) and $8 million from DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (NE).
The funding formally kicks off the demonstration, which will involve multiple stakeholders in research, academia, industry, and state-level government. On a federal level, that includes Idaho National Laboratory (INL), the Idaho Falls-sited laboratory that is becoming a central hot spot for nuclear integration research and development, as well as the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The Electric Power Research Institute, along with Arizona State University, and the University of California, Irvine will also collaborate on the project. These entities have been vocally supportive of the DOE’s June 7–launched Energy Earthshots Initiative, which aims to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen by 80% to $1 per kilogram (kg) over the next 10 years.
The project’s private partners will involve OxEon, a company that specializes in solid oxide fuel cells, and Siemens Energy, a gas turbine manufacturer that is heavily invested in decarbonized gas power and wants to produce heavy-duty gas turbines that are capable of combusting 100% hydrogen in volume by 2030. Siemens Energy, notably, is also a key stakeholder in HYFLEXPOWER, a European Union-backed four-year project to demonstrate a fully integrated power-to-hydrogen-to-power project at industrial scale and in a real-world power plant application.
Also notably involved is the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), a public power entity that in May 2021 outlined plans to convert four Los Angeles–area gas-fired power plants to run on hydrogen under the HyDeal LA project in coordination with the Green Hydrogen Coalition. That coalition, which comprises power companies, pipeline manufacturers, and financial firms, is currently working to put the necessary infrastructure in place.