UK Energy, a London AIM-listed company trading under the ticker UKEN, has signed a five-year memorandum of understanding with UK Nuclear. The goal is to assess the joint development of advanced nuclear reactors, green hydrogen, green ammonia and underground geological energy storage, all at the same site.
The analysis covers advanced reactors and small modular reactors, abbreviated A&SMR. The two companies want to understand how electricity, heat and steam produced by these plants could power water electrolysis. The resulting hydrogen would then be used to produce green ammonia, which is used in fertilizers, maritime transport and the chemical industry. The work also includes identifying suitable sites to host nuclear generation, electrolysis and ammonia production within close proximity of one another.
Heat is the strong suit of advanced nuclear. According to a Royal Society report, next-generation modular reactors can reach temperatures above 600 degrees, as required by processes such as basic chemicals production and potentially steelmaking. An electrolyzer powered by a source that delivers continuous energy runs for more hours per year. A steam reforming plant next to an SMR can count on cheaper, more efficient heat. To date, hydrogen has suffered precisely because of the high cost of the energy needed for electrolysis.
The agreement fits into a UK nuclear program that is already under way. Great British Energy-Nuclear has selected Rolls-Royce SMR to build the country’s first small reactors at Wylfa in North Wales. The project is worth £2.5 billion and starts with three units of 470 megawatts each, with the option of going up to eight. On the private side, X-energy and Centrica are targeting up to 12 advanced reactors at Hartlepool, as part of a national program of 6 gigawatts. Developers are talking about more than 20 SMRs by the mid-2030s.
The inclusion of underground storage within the scope of the agreement gives the project a third leg. Surplus hydrogen and ammonia can be stored at large scale and released when demand requires it. The memorandum is not a construction contract and does not commit any investment. It opens a study phase in which the two companies will have to show that the model holds up both technically and economically.
If the assessment phase is successful, the United Kingdom could have industrial hubs in which a modular reactor feeds hydrogen, ammonia and storage. A similar model is also of interest to Italy, where the debate on the return of nuclear power increasingly looks to SMRs for heat-intensive industrial districts.
