Techno-Economic Assessment of Small Modular Reactors and Renewable Energy for Hydrogen Production: An Egyptian Grid Case Study

Hydrogen is considered a means to achieve decarbonization across various sectors, such as transportation and industry. The production of hydrogen must be conducted with low CO2 emissions to reduce greenhouse gases. The small modular nuclear reactors were investigated to serve as a source of energy for the generation of low-carbon hydrogen. SMRs are nuclear reactors that are characterized by having a smaller capacity in comparison with traditional nuclear reactors. They provide a potential solution for producing hydrogen by supplying ample energy for water electrolysis (pink hydrogen). The previous statement suggests the benefits of combining small modular reactor with hydrogen production facilities and areas that consume hydrogen, creating groups of applications that utilize hydrogen as an energy source. The main goal of this approach is to identify and assess the levelized cost of hydrogen based on small modular reactor in comparison to renewable energy sources. This assessment was conducted using an hourly resolved time series of energy generation and demand to determine metrics including the levelized cost of hydrogen and environmental benefits. The systems were proposed to achieve levelized cost of hydrogen between 3.9 USD/kg and 4.24 USD/kg, including selling the excess electricity while decreasing CO2 emissions by more than 1.5 million tons per year in one of the case studies.