First Small Modular Reactor Project Scrapped

..."Three small modular reactors (SMRs) were operational in 2022, located in Russia, China, and India. Three more were under construction, while 65 SMRs were still in the design stage...."Mar 27, 2023"

Global number of small modular reactor (SMR) projects in 2022, by power generation capacity and development status*

Truly sad for the USA that the only operational SMRs are in Russia, China, and India.

Well we're in a transitional stage right now, and there are a lot of options to consider....It's a lot of money at stake and nobody wants to make a mistake because these are long term commitments...so there's a lot of wait and see until the last minute type thing going on imo....

"U.S. Power Heavyweights Unveil Hydrogen Power-to-Power Demonstration

Duke Energy, GE Vernova, and Sargent and Lundy will team up on a pioneering project to demonstrate an end-to-end energy system that produces, stores, and combusts 100% renewable hydrogen at Duke Energy’s DeBary solar plant in Florida.

Duke Energy on Oct. 27 said construction on the project, a “one-of-a-kind end-to-end” system, will begin later this year and could be installed within a one-year timeframe. “Duke Energy anticipates the system will be installed and fully functioning in 2024,” it said.

The demonstration comprises two parts: It will source hydrogen from a production facility planned at the 74.5-MW Debary plant in Volusia County, Florida., a 2020-opened solar PV farm that features 300,000 panels. The hydrogen production plant, which will utilize power from the solar farm, will run on two 1-MW electrolyzer units.

The renewable hydrogen will then be delivered to “nearby, reinforced containers for safe storage.” However, during times when energy demand is highest, the integrated system will serve as a dedicated “peaking” facility, delivering stored hydrogen to a combustion turbine (CT) that will be upgraded using GE technology to combust a natural gas/hydrogen blend or up to 100% hydrogen. “This will be the nation’s first CT in operation running on such a high percentage of hydrogen,” Duke Energy said.

A Project to Demonstrate Hydrogen’s Dispatchable Power Role

The project marks a pivotal juncture in U.S. power industry-led efforts to develop carbon-free dispatchable energy sources. Duke Energy, in a statement on Friday, underscored hydrogen’s growing role. “Readily available hydrogen is a dispatchable energy source, meaning it is available on demand. It can be turned on and off at any time and is not dependent on the time of day or the weather, like sun, wind, or other renewable energy sources known as intermittent,” it said.

“Duke Energy anticipates hydrogen could play a major role in our clean energy future,” said Regis Repko, senior vice president of generation and transmission strategy for Duke Energy. “Hydrogen has significant potential for decarbonization across all sectors of the U.S. economy. It is clean energy also capable of long-duration storage, which would help Duke Energy ensure grid reliability as we continue adding more renewable energy sources to our system.”

In addition, by introducing the country’s first end-to-end system, the project suggests a solution to one of the renewable energy sector’s most pressing challenges: ensuring consistent energy supply even when the sun’s energy is diminished while optimizing solar energy resources for extended periods of high demand. “Relying on intermittent energy sources without available dispatchable energy sources would put our future electric system at risk of having insufficient energy to serve customer demand,” Duke Energy said.

According to Duke Energy, the project will prioritize several operational features, including “safe, quiet energy generation and storage.” Cost-effectiveness is also a priority. The end-to-end demonstration “could provide cost-effective decarbonization,” it said."...

Yes, Duke Energy is on the right path. This is the way to go. Photons to solar panels to electricity to electrolyzer to storage to fuel cells and other generators. Complete cycle. Electricity to split the water molecule to get the hydrogen and reunite the hydrogen with the oxygen to get the electricity. And no spent rods storage fees for 10000 years! And there's no charge meter on the usage of the photons! Recycling is the only real problem and that's being overcome.