An upstate New York nuclear power plant has begun clean hydrogen production, making it the first-of-its-kind facility in the nation to do so
Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station in Oswego, N.Y., has begun producing clean hydrogen as part of a $14.5 million cost share project with the U.S. Department of Energy and Constellation, according to a March 7 DOE news release.
"This accomplishment tangibly demonstrates that our nation's existing reactor fleet can produce clean hydrogen today," Kathryn Huff, DOE assistant secretary for nuclear energy, said in the news release. "DOE is proud to support cost-shared projects like this to deliver affordable clean hydrogen."
Clean hydrogen production at Nine Mile Point was intended to demonstrate how it could be done and how other nuclear power plants can help lower cost sand scale-up the production of clean hydrogen, according to the news release.
"The investments we're starting to make now through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act will further expand the clean hydrogen market to create new economic and environmental benefits for nuclear energy," Huff said in the release.
The projected moved ahead with DOE support of Constellation's building and installation of a low-temperature electrolysis system at the power plant that now leverages the plant's existing hydrogen storage system, the release reported. Constellation will its clean hydrogen to help cool the power plant.
The clean hydrogen generation system developed at Nine Mile Point produces hydrogen without emissions through electricity generated at the plant to split water into its hydrogen and oxygen components, according to the release.
Clean hydrogen production began at Nine Mile Point in February to supply hydrogen for its operations, which previously was dependent on hydrogen made from fossil fuels and trucked in, the release reported.
"Hydrogen will be an indispensable tool in solving the climate crisis, and Nine Mile Point is going to show the world that nuclear power is the most efficient and cost-effective way to make it from a carbon-free resource," Constellation President and CEO Joe Dominguez said in the news release. "In partnership with DOE and others, we see this technology creating a pathway to decarbonizing industries that remain heavily reliant on fossil fuels, while creating clean-energy jobs and strengthening domestic energy security."
