Nuclear Power: Hydrogen

(asked on 8th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to increase the production of green hydrogen from nuclear energy.


Answered by
Anne-Marie Trevelyan Portrait
Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 15th June 2021

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan confirmed our aim, working with industry, for 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 for use across the economy.

The Government welcomes the nuclear industry’s ambition to support low-carbon hydrogen production. BEIS funded EdF’s ‘Hydrogen to Heysham’ feasibility study[1] showing that current nuclear technologies are technically capable of producing low-carbon hydrogen in the 2020s. Recognising planned decommissioning and the time required to build new nuclear, we assess that the amount of hydrogen produced from nuclear in this period will be determined by the availability of nuclear power for this purpose.

The forthcoming UK Hydrogen Strategy will set out further detail on the role of hydrogen production technologies in meeting our 5GW ambition. This ambition will be supported by a range of measures, including a £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund, and our preferred long term, sustainable business model, which we will finalise in 2022. We intend to support a range of low carbon production methods but will be guided by timing, volumes and other considerations to meet our 5GW ambition. We will be consulting shortly on these measures, alongside the publication of the UK Hydrogen Strategy.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hydrogen-supply-competition

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