Scriba, N.Y. – Upstate New York’s largest nuclear power station is branching out into the hydrogen business in hopes of boosting its profits and its role in New York’s energy grid of the future.
Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station soon will begin using a fraction of its electric output to make hydrogen, a fuel that could one day power airplanes and trucks, heat buildings, and store energy for the power grid, among other uses.
It’s a demonstration project for now. But plant owner Constellation Energy Corp., the nation’s largest nuclear operator, anticipates that hydrogen will play an important role in the company’s future, CEO Joe Dominguez said Wednesday at the Scriba plant.
Eventually, some of Constellation’s 23 nuclear plants might devote up to half of their generating capacity to hydrogen production, Dominguez said.