H2@Scale and Tightly-Coupled Nuclear-Renewable Hybrid Energy Systems

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its National Laboratory system are leading initiatives for nuclear and renewable technology innovations for better integration of these technologies in low carbon energy systems. One of these, the H2@Scale concept, involves large-scale production and utilization of hydrogen to improve the resiliency of the electricity grid, increase energy security, and reduce emissions across all energy sectors. The H2@Scale concept supports both inflexible energy generators (such as wind and nuclear generation) by designing water splitting that produces hydrogen to absorb excess energy and provide value for it and distributing that hydrogen for use as a fuel for transportation or a feedstock in the industrial sector for hydrotreatment in oil and biomass refining, for ammonia production, for metals refining, or for other processes. Hydrogen, like electricity, is a cross-sector integrator and, unlike electricity, large quantities can be stored readily.