Russia's Kola Nuclear Power Plant plans to produce up to 150 tonnes of pure hydrogen per year

MURMANSK. Jan 11 (Interfax) - The Kola Nuclear Power Plant in Russia's Murmansk region plans to produce up to 150 tonnes of hydrogen per year at a bench test complex, the plant's press office said.

The bench test complex will be produce high purity hydrogen, compressed to 400 atmospheres, with an annual production capacity of up to 150 tonnes, it said.

Vasily Omelchuk, the nuclear plant's head, said in December 2023 that the plant still planned to launch a bench test complex for the production of hydrogen in 2025. "We focused above all on hydrogen for export when the hydrogen program was announced in our country. Export is now closed for us, so some uncertainty surrounds hydrogen projects," Omelchuk said.

Omelchuk said in November 2022 that a facility with capacity of 200 tonnes of hydrogen per year could be commissioned in 2025.

The Rosenergoatom Concern is conducting an environmental impact assessment into the Kola NPP bench test complex between April 2023 and April 2024. The documentation said the test complex's capacity should be 200 normal cubic meters per hour. The production method is water electrolysis.

Kola NPP said in December 2022 that it would host the pilot hydrogen production with a new environmentally friendly technology, and that pilot production had been launched. Proton exchange membranes were used instead of alkaline electrolyzers. The hydrogen purity was 99.999%.