UK To Use Green Hydrogen for Asphalt Production for the First Time in the World

The United Kingdom has announced the allocation of £6 million ($7.6 million) to finance plans for the production and use of "green" hydrogen at Heysham 2. 

This is reported by NucNet.

The EDF-led consortium has received government funding to further develop plans to use electricity from Heysham 2 to produce hydrogen for use in asphalt and cement production. Earlier this year, a feasibility study demonstrated the significant benefits the project would bring. The consortium includes EDF, building materials manufacturer Hanson, the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and Vulcan Burners.

The concept is to demonstrate solid oxide electrolysis (SOEC) integrated with nuclear heat and electricity from EDF Energy's Heysham plant in Lancashire, England, to provide low-carbon, low-cost hydrogen via new next-generation composite storage tanks to several Hanson asphalt slab and cement plants in the UK. 

To date, no plant in the world has used hydrogen as a fuel for asphalt production.

The UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has allocated nearly £400,000 (US$499,500) to the Bay Hydrogen Hub project to fund a feasibility study. This funding was provided from the UK government's £1 billion Net-Zero innovation portfolio under the Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Programme.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change and Net Zero have now announced a further £6.1 million from the same pot for the project. The same amount will be provided by the project partners.

The funding will be used to develop the final design of the hydrogen production, distribution and end-use technology, as well as to study the full cost and delivery plans.

"We know that nuclear power can do more to drive the decarbonisation agenda. We hope that this project will show fossil fuel dependent industries, as well as the nuclear sector, that by working together we can build a lower carbon future for industry and reaffirm the UK's place as a world leader in decarbonisation technologies," said Rachel Glavening, EDF's Chief Commercial Officer.

The Heysham site is divided into two separately operated nuclear power stations - Heysham 1 and Heysham 2 - both with two advanced gas-cooled reactors. Heysham 1 began operation in 1983 and is expected to be shut down in 2026. Heysham 2 began operation in 1988 and is expected to be shut down in 2028.