Summarizes highlights from Data Center Dynamics Silicon Valley conference panel debate on hydrogen vs nuclear power generation. Looks at industry progress and the importance of increasing sustainable power technologies for the future of data centers. 

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Summary

DCD Silicon Valley was held in Santa Clara in late June 2023. The two-day conference attracted about 850 attendees for 28 sessions covering topics on building responsibly, supply chain, sustainability, hyperscale expansion, OCP projects, managing macroeconomic turbulence, and others.

This conference had traditional panel sessions on day 1 and day 2. The sessions were hosted in the exhibition hall with two live stages, complete with headphones for attendees, one stage for panels, and a second stage where DCD staff held interviews with industry experts on various subjects.

Hydrogen versus nuclear - DCD debate

Several panel sessions were billed as DCD Debates on a particular subject. While there was a bit of debate during the hydrogen vs. nuclear panel, it was largely the panel’s consensus that both nuclear and hydrogen power generation would keep marching forward into the future.

The panel, ‘Are fuel sources like hydrogen and nuclear too far out to count?’ included Afonso Salema (Start Campus), Bruce Myatt (Black & Veatch), Chris Lohse (Idaho National Lab), Lucas Beran (Dell’Oro Group), Kim Gunnelius (Verne Global), Yuval Bachar (EdgeCloudLink), and was moderated by Alex Dickins of DCD.

Both hydrogen and nuclear have a long history. Interestingly hydrogen has historically been a smaller power generation technology, so the industry is working through how to scale it up for industrial applications. Nuclear, on the other hand, has historically been gigawatt-scale nuclear power plants (which have a long construction timeline and are very expensive), and the industry direction now is to scale it down by way of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

Part of the panel discussion focused on timelines to reach practical commercial utilization. While some clear advancement milestones are on the horizon over the next few years for both technologies, there remains uncertainty about the speed of market adoption. How quickly will companies and utilities buy into these approaches and sign contracts?

Both hydrogen and nuclear technologies have current go-to-market products, but research and design improvements are ongoing. Power generation is a highly regulated industry that inherently leads to complex and time-consuming policy making and approval processes. The US Department of Energy (DOE) and its affiliated organizations like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) know the short-term need for sustainable power generation and have been working to streamline approval and licensing requirements and processes.

To be clear, hydrogen and nuclear are hopeful long-term sustainable solutions for consumer and industrial applications, including data centers. In fact, they make interesting bedfellows. One of the ideal production methods for pink hydrogen is electrolysis through nuclear energy. “Pink” refers to the color scheme used to describe hydrogen production methods.

The investment community is betting on the future of both hydrogen and nuclear. The focus on sustainability and climate change is not going away. Investors in these types of technologies have a long-term infrastructure investment thesis, meaning they can watch companies they invest in lose money for some time because they see a clear and profitable future.

Numerous projects and initiatives are underway for increased-scale hydrogen and reduced-scale nuclear power generation.

On the hydrogen horizon

Black & Veatch is EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contractor for the Advanced Clean Energy Storage (ACES) hydrogen production and storage hub in Delta, Utah. The project is billed as the “world’s largest industrial green hydrogen production and storage facility.” Construction started in 2022 and is expected to deliver green hydrogen (hydrogen produced using renewable or low-carbon power) to the Intermountain Power Agency’s new power plant, which is also under construction. The project is designed to convert more than 220 MW of renewable energy daily to 100 metric tons of green hydrogen that will be stored in two expansive salt caverns.

A May 2023 report from the Hydrogen Council and McKinsey & Company says there are 1,046 large-scale hydrogen projects in various stages of development globally with an estimated investment value of $320 billion. There are 170 announced projects in North America with an estimated investment value of $46 billion.

On the nuclear horizon

Many projects are in the works, but there are no commercially operating SMRs in the United States. What’s in the pipeline is either commercial plants (sometimes called commercial demonstrations, which deliver power to the grid or heat for another application) or demonstration plants (set up to prove things work). Many demonstration projects supported by the DOE and other organizations are slated for 2024 and beyond.

On the commercial side, first up is the Oklo commercial plant microreactor, which will be installed at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and is expected to start operating in 2026. Next on the horizon are NuScale and X-energy, both targeting 2029 for commercial plant SMRs, then Holtec and TerraPower commercial plant SMRs in 2030.

Our future

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in 2021, the electric power generation industry was responsible for 25% of US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; only outdone by the transportation sector, which accounted for 28% of US GHG emissions.

The wheels of progress turn slowly, but in the context of the decades of history behind hydrogen and nuclear power generation, we are very close to what we all hope is a game-changer for sustainable power generation.

Hear more

There were 18 sessions on day 2 between the two stages in the exhibit hall. A recording playback for the full day on each stage is available (links in the Further Reading section below). Topics include:

  • State of various data center markets
  • Hyperscale capex trends
  • Sustainability and ESG
  • New technologies and innovations, including OCP
  • Power infrastructure and the grid
  • DC Cooling
  • Staffing and workforce considerations

Appendix

Further reading

Nuclear data centers: Public perception improves for nuclear power, but headwinds persist (July 2023)

DCD Silicon Valley - Main Stage panel recordings (June 2023)

DCD Silicon Valley - DCD Talks interview stage recordings (June 2023)

Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (not dated)

 

Author

Alan Howard, Principal Analyst, Cloud & Data Center Research Practice

[email protected]