Nuclear undervalued in European hydrogen strategy, report says

January 4, 2021, 12:16PMANS Nuclear Cafe

The European Commission’s current strategy for developing a hydrogen economy—part of its overall goal of achieving a climate-neutral European Union by 2050—needs to make more room for nuclear power. That’s according to a report published in December by the New Nuclear Watch Institute (NNWI), an industry-supported think tank based in the United Kingdom.

The 28-page report, On the Role of Nuclear Power in the Development of a European Hydrogen Economy, notes that the commission’s strategy, set out in last summer’s A Hydrogen Strategy for a Climate-Neutral Europe, sees the long-term future of the European hydrogen economy as one based on hydrogen production solely utilizing renewable power, thereby excluding nuclear from a lasting role in the market.

From the report: The executive summary states, “The production of hydrogen using nuclear power rather than intermittent renewable energy has a number of general advantages, not in the least that the former is able to supply electrolyzers at a far higher capacity factor, allowing greater operational efficiency, and to facilitate continuous production of hydrogen that is essential for its industrial applications.”


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