Task 6 Solid Oxide Electrolysis System DemonstrationThe multi-phase, aggressive plan is consistent with the INL/EERE-FCTO nuclear-hydrogen timeline. The project will result in delivery of a 250kW SOEC System for the nuclear environment within two years.
Following successful completion of the project, the FCE-INL team will be well positioned to rapidly scale up for delivery of up to 200MW SOEC utility scale systems before 2026 (including an FCE design that enables 1 GW of electrolysis to fit on a 1 acre site). To achieve these objectives, Phase 1 project execution is structured within six tasks, including:
• Task 1. Project management and planning: reporting and deliverables
• Task 2. Electrolysis stacks: stack manufacturing and factory verification/quality assurance tests
• Task 3. System design: electrolysis module design, process, mechanical and electrical design, and
INL facility design/modifications, including preliminary development of a high level controller for
the SOEC system
• Task 4. System component fabrication: electrolysis module fabrication, and balance of plat (BOP) component fabrication
• Task 5. System assembly and controls: system controls development and programming, SOEC stack delivery and support, system assembly and checkout
• Task 6. Operation at INL: 250 kW SOEC facility preparation, system installation and commissioning, verification and validation (V&V) demonstration in which the FCE-developed controls will be connected to a custom high level controller that will be developed and implemented by the Project to simulate grid conditions with the FCE SOEC System acting as power hardware-in-the loop.
Aligned with DOE and industry goals and objectives, the V&V demonstration will show technical
feasibility of dispatching electricity between the grid and the electrolysis units, to help establish the potential value of load, volt-ampere reactive (var) power, and frequency regulation by light water reactor
(LWR)-hydrogen hybrid plants. This will provide utility commissions, regional grid reliability organizations, and balancing authorities with the data necessary to valorize LWR/advanced hybrid plants in both regulated and deregulated electricity markets.
The proposed work is supported by recent techno-economic analyses and 20 years of SOFC/EC and
reversible SOFC (RSOFC) energy storage development, from fundamental R&D through systems
development. This solid technological base has shown that FCE’s SOEC technology is uniquely positioned to supply hydrogen at unsubsidized, economic prices that are competitive with fossilfuel-based steam methane reforming.
Importantly, and in contrast to alternate electrolysis technologies (such as PEM), the critical cost targets can be achieved in the near term without major materials and manufacturing research programs to enable breakthrough efficiency and cost reductions. Instead, combined with FCE’s 50 years of high temperature fuel cell system commercialization experience, this program is de-risked, and SOEC holds the promise of achieving accelerated mass-market penetration and jobs-growth via maturity- development in manufacturing/quality scale-up and a staged sequence of system demonstrations.
Finally, this project will not only verify and validate FCE’s modular SOEC System for commercial readiness; it will also provide the Front End Engineering basis for determining how full-scale LWR hybrid systems can be operated without adversely impacting the safety and reliability of the nuclear plant. This will therefore provide a basis for licensing many types of integrated energy systems that can expand commercial market opportunities for LWRs and for future advanced reactor designs.
Furthermore, because this technology can soon be price competitive with current carbon emitting hydrogen production methods, it can enable a new paradigm of economic US de-carbonization via SOEC-hydrogen to transform the electricity, industrial and transportation sectors -- starting with hybrid, nuclear-hydrogen production increased profitability.