The Anonymous Widower

Sizewell C And Hydrogen

The Sizewell C web site has a page with a title of Hydrogen and SZC.

The page asks this question.

Why Does Sizewell C Want To Produce Hydrogen?

It gives this answer.

Nuclear is a great way of producing hydrogen as it generates huge amounts of reliable, low-carbon energy. Nuclear and hydrogen are also two clean technologies that can help us make big reductions in carbon emissions. While both technologies are vital on their own, at Sizewell C we have an exciting vision to bring them together.

The page is worth a read about how they will use the hydrogen, which will include.

• Providing Wrightbus hydrogen-powered buses to link the main construction site with Park-and-Ride sites on the A 12 at Darsham and Wickham Market.
• Powering vehicles and machinery on the main construction site.
• Supplying hydrogen to Freeport East.
• Refuelling hydrogen vehicles.

I have a few thoughts.

Supplying Hydrogen To Users

On my last stud farm, we had three fuel deliveries.

• Propane to heat the house.
• Red diesel to power the farm machinery.
• Road diesel to power the horse box and a couple of diesel cars, that went on the roads.

Note.

1. Like most farms in East Anglia, we didn’t have mains gas.
2. The local low-life of whom you never speak their name, used to regularly steal the diesel.
3. We had two boilers, that ran on the propane.
4. All farm vehicles and machinery will in the future use hydrogen.
5. Propane and diesel would be replaced by clean hydrogen.

I believe companies like Centrica, will develop the technology so that farms and businesses could have their own hydrogen system, that would be topped-up accordingly, by road tankers, which themselves would be fuelled by hydrogen.

One set of tankers would be replaced by another zero-carbon set.

Sizewell sits on the Suffolk Coast and it appears, there will be a new road link to the A 12, which connects to Suffolk’s main road system.

This map shows Sizewell C and East Suffolk.

Note.

1. The Sizewell site is outlined in pink on the coast, about halfway up the map.
2. The A 12 road and the East Suffolk Line run almost parallel to the coast between Ipswich in the South and Lowestoft and Yarmouth in the North.

Energy use in East Suffolk would be transformed and all because there will be a plentiful supply of zero-carbon hydrogen.

Hydrogen And The Arts

Suffolk has been an artistic county for hundreds of years and some works of art, like casting bronzes, firing pottery or working with glass or wrought iron need a lot of energy. Local hydrogen networks supplied by tanker, as propane is now could help to decarbonise one of the most difficult of professions.

Pink Hydrogen

This page on the National Grid web site explains the various hydrogen colours.

It describes pink hydrogen like this.

Pink hydrogen is generated through electrolysis powered by nuclear energy. Nuclear-produced hydrogen can also be referred to as purple hydrogen or red hydrogen.

In addition, the very high temperatures from nuclear reactors could be used in other hydrogen productions by producing steam for more efficient electrolysis or fossil gas-based steam methane reforming.

I also call it Barbie hydrogen.

Sizewell C would be an ideal place to create pink hydrogen.

Before Sizewell C is up and running, the electrolyser at Sizewell could be powered by Sizewell B or even offshore wind.

April 11, 2024 - Posted by AnonW | Hydrogen | Centrica, Decarbonisation, Freeport East, Hydrogen-Powered Trucks, Pink Hydrogen, Rural Hydrogen Network, Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station, Sizewell C Construction, Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station, Sizewell C Park-and-Ride, Wrightbus