Research & Applications

NuScale SMR chosen for U.K. wind-nuclear hybrid

January 18, 2021, 12:01PMANS Nuclear Cafe

British hybrid clean energy company Shearwater Energy announced on January 15 that it is joining with U.S.-based NuScale Power to develop a hybrid project using wind energy and small modular reactor technology to produce power and green hydrogen.

According to news reports, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on an initial project, which could be sited at the now-decommissioned Wylfa nuclear power station on the island of Anglesey, off the northwestern coast of Wales. No land agreements have been reached, however.

Going green: Shearwater said that the project could produce more than 3 million kilograms of green hydrogen annually for use in the U.K.’s transportation sector. It also could provide both baseload and load-following power as needed, with any excess electricity used to create green hydrogen (defined as hydrogen produced using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels).

SMR investment: The United Kingdom has announced plans to rapidly expand offshore wind capacity by 2030 and invest in SMR development to meet net-zero carbon emissions goals by 2050. Shearwater and NuScale in their announcement said that hybrid wind-nuclear energy systems not only would provide reliable power, but also would help the power grid overcome intermittency and grid stability issues.

Tags:
hybridnet-zero carbonnuclearnuscaleshearwatersmrwind
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