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- The Government is further committed to the future of nuclear energy in the UK by investing £77 million to support nuclear fuel production and the next generation of advanced nuclear reactors.
- A further £25 million of funding has been announced for innovative new technologies that will produce clean hydrogen from biomass and waste.
- The government is also seeking views on proposals to make domestic gas boilers more efficient and hydrogen-ready from 2026, to prepare for any future transition to using low-carbon hydrogen for heating.
The UK Government is today (13 December 2022) announcing new funding to support clean energy production in the UK, following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and its subsequent impact on global energy prices.
Today’s funding includes £77 million to boost nuclear fuel production and support the development of the next generation of advanced nuclear reactors, as well as £25 million for technologies that can produce hydrogen from sustainable biomass and waste while removing carbon dioxide from the environment.
Nuclear investment
The Government is today committed to new and innovative nuclear power and is announcing up to £60 million of funding to start the next phase of research into the new cutting-edge High Temperature Gas Reactor (HTGR), a type of advanced modular reactor. (AMR), which may begin in the early 2030s. Funding from the Advanced Modular Reactor R&D Program aims to have an engineering design demonstration project by the end of the decade.
HTGRs are typically smaller than conventional nuclear power stations, are more flexible and can be built at a fraction of the cost. It is hoped that as well as safely generating electricity to power homes, HTGRs will strengthen the UK’s energy sovereignty and security by reducing reliance on expensive fossil fuels, as well as generating by-products such as low-carbon hydrogen. Generating temperatures of up to 950 degrees, HTGRs provide a source of clean, high-temperature heat that can help decarbonise industrial processes in the UK.
Today’s funding for HTGR Innovation is supported by a further £4 million of funding for the AMR Knowledge Capture Project, as a complementary project to the AMR Research, Development and Demonstration Programme. The project seeks to facilitate knowledge capture and sharing to reduce time, risk and cost of program delivery.
Up to £13 million has also been announced for nuclear fuel fabricators Westinghouse in Preston, which is strategically important to produce fuel for the current UK advanced gas cooled reactor fleet. The funding will mean the UK has the option to be less reliant on imports from abroad and will help the company develop the capacity to produce both reprocessed uranium and freshly mined uranium. This is a significant investment at the Westinghouse Springfields site in Lancashire which safeguards hundreds of highly skilled jobs in the North West.
As well as boosting the UK’s energy security, ministers hope it will also provide export opportunities for the sector and position the UK as a key international supplier of nuclear fuel and fuel cycle services.
The news comes a fortnight after ministers announced a further revival of the UK nuclear industry, confirming the first state backing of a nuclear project in 30 years, with a historic £700 million stake in Sizewell Sea in Suffolk. The power station will generate electricity equivalent to 6 million homes for over 50 years.
Energy and Climate Minister Graham Stewart said:
This funding package will strengthen our energy security, ensuring we have a safe and secure supply of domestic nuclear fuel services – while also creating more UK jobs and export opportunities.
Hydrogen innovation
Accelerating the use of hydrogen will be key to the UK’s green energy future, alongside the government’s work to deploy renewables and nuclear to strengthen the UK’s energy security.
To support this, the government has committed £25 million to accelerate the deployment of hydrogen bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) – a unique ‘negative emissions’ technology that can permanently remove waste from the atmosphere while CO2 rises. Sustainable Biomass and Organic Materials.
Hydrogen BECCS technologies will play a key role on the UK’s path to net zero emissions, providing hydrogen as a clean fuel for hard-to-decarbonise sectors such as transport and heavy industry. Today’s funding will go directly towards the advancement of BECCS projects from the design stage to demonstration, supporting the technology to eventually become integrated as part of our everyday energy systems.
Energy Minister Lord Callan said:
With its potential to move a step beyond net zero and become carbon negative – eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere – this hydrogen technology will be critical to achieving our climate goals.
Our £25 million government funding to develop this technology will help unlock private investment and generate new green jobs – all while reducing carbon emissions.
The program is one of many measures taken by the government to develop a thriving low-carbon hydrogen sector as part of the UK’s green industrial revolution.
Proposals to set higher efficiency standards for new gas boilers were also announced today, which could help households save on energy bills by reducing their use of expensive fossil fuels. Improving boiler efficiency will reduce carbon emissions on the way to replacing new and natural-gas-only boilers from 2035. The proposal estimates that 21 million tonnes of CO2 could be saved by 2050, equivalent to taking around 9 million cars off the road. for one year.
In a further step towards making household heating more efficient, the government is also consulting on a proposal for all new domestic-scale gas boilers sold from 2026 to be capable of being powered by hydrogen, to prepare for any possible future transition to its use. . Low-carbon hydrogen for heating.
The ‘UK Hydrogen Strategy Update to the Market: December 2022’ has been published today, summarizing the Government’s action to drive forward the hydrogen economy since the last update this summer. Activities undertaken by the government in the last few months include:
These documents strengthen the policy and regulatory landscape for the UK’s hydrogen sector, bringing greater certainty to investors and industry alike.
Stakeholder feedback
Tariq Choho, President of Nuclear Fuels at Westinghouse, said:
There is a strong global appetite for diversified and secure sources of fuel and services supply and the UK’s nuclear excellence and experience, particularly at Springfields, offers utilities an attractive option.
We are delighted that the UK Government recognizes the role of Springfields and its employees as a strategic asset that supports a clean and secure energy future.
Jane Toogood, UK Hydrogen Champion, said:
It is good to see the next phase of the implementation of the hydrogen strategy, especially the consultation on the proposal to make new gas boilers hydrogen-ready. To maintain market confidence and investment, the industry needs to keep pace with the government, particularly on decisions to create demand for hydrogen and advance hydrogen business models.
Mike Foster, chief executive of the Energy and Utilities Alliance and the Heating and Hotwater Industry Council, said:
Mandating hydrogen-fired boilers is an important step towards decarbonising households. The government is quite right to support this no-regrets option. Boiler manufacturers have already made their ‘price promise’ so that a new hydrogen-fired boiler will cost the same as a natural gas appliance. So this means 1.7 million homes will be ready for net zero every year at no additional cost to the consumer, helping us reach our 2050 target.
Notes to editors
Nuclear investment
- The Springfields site is located in Salwick, near Preston in Lancashire. It is currently operated by Springfields Fuels Limited under the management of Westinghouse Electric UK under a 150-year lease from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
- Uranium conversion is an important step in the nuclear fuel cycle. The funding will build specialist nuclear fuel capacity in the UK to convert recycled uranium that is not currently available outside Russia.
- This award is subject to a signed funding agreement
- See more details about the UK’s energy security strategy
- More information about the £385 million Advance Nuclear Fund supporting R&D on SMRs and AMRs. The AMR R&D program was launched in February 2022. Phase A winners were announced in September 2022, receiving £3.3 million. Full details of the £60 million available under Phase B will be available here today
Hydrogen BECCS Innovation Programme
- The funding announced today is available through the Hydrogen BECCS Innovation Program and follows the start of Phase 1 worth £5 million in January. Phase 2 will support the most promising projects from Phase 1 with funding targeted at developing projects from the design stage to demonstration.
- The objective of the program is to support the development of core technologies required for sustainable biomass and hydrogen production from waste with carbon sequestration capabilities.
- Having received funding for feasibility and design activities, Phase 1 projects now have the opportunity to apply for additional funding to support the physical demonstration of hydrogen BECCS technology.
- Today’s funding will go directly towards projects from design stage to demonstration, supporting technologies to become integrated as part of our everyday energy systems by 2030.
Hydrogen update
As a clean fuel, emitting only water vapor when burned, hydrogen plays an important role in our transition to net zero, with the potential to help reduce emissions in hard-to-decarbonize sectors of the economy such as transportation and heavy industry.
Updates delivering on the commitments set out in the UK Hydrogen Strategy and the British Energy Security Strategy have also been published today. This includes:
Domestic boiler consultation
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