The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding $20 million in funding to a project to demonstrate technology that will produce clean hydrogen energy from nuclear power. This approach will allow clean hydrogen to serve as a source for zero-carbon electricity and represent an important economic product for nuclear plants beyond electricity.

The project, based in Arizona, will make progress on DOE’s H2@Scale vision for clean hydrogen across multiple sectors and help meet the Department’s Hydrogen Shot goal of $1 per 1 kilogram in one decade.

The project, led by PNW Hydrogen LLC, will receive $12 million from the DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) and $8 million from DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) for a total award of $20 million. The project will produce clean hydrogen from nuclear power at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Phoenix, Arizona—the largest nuclear plant and the single-largest generator of carbon-free electricity in the US.

Six tonnes of stored hydrogen will be used to produce approximately 200 MWh electricity during times of high demand, and may be also used to make chemicals and other fuels. The project will provide insights about integrating nuclear energy with hydrogen production technologies and inform future clean hydrogen production deployments at scale.

PNW Hydrogen, LLC will be the primary recipient of the DOE award and will collaborate with multiple stakeholders in research, academia, industry and state-level government including Idaho National Laboratory, National Energy Technology Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, OxEon, Electric Power Research Institute, Arizona State University, University of California Irvine, Siemens, Xcel Energy, Energy Harbor and the LA Department of Water and Power.