There are plans to build a NPP for the production of hydrogen in the Mendeleevsky district of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan and development of equipment is already underway. It will become the focal point of the new Alabuga-Mendeleevsk special economic zone, according to Radmir Belyaev, head of the Mendeleevsky district. Investments in the NPP may amount to RUB500bn ($6bn).
“The first two key residents of the zone are Ammonium-2 and a hydrogen station jointly with Rosatom, which we are working on with the Ministry of Industry & Trade,” Belyaev said.
In early April, Vitaly Petrunin, First Deputy General Director of Rosatom’s Afrikantov Design Bureau, announced that Rosatom was continuing to implement a project for a NPP for hydrogen production. The project is at the research and development (R&D) stage. He said the technical design of the reactor plant was completed last year. It will consist of a nuclear part, a heat transfer system and a chemical and technological part – a chemical plant.
Scientific Research Institute NPO LUCH (part of Rosatom) has started work on an experimental hydrogen production facility. A pilot plant will be launched soon, Petrunin added.
In August 2023, it was reported that construction was scheduled to begin in 2028. The facility will consist of 4 units, which will be put into operation by 2035. The estimated capacity of the facility is 400,000 tonnes of hydrogen a year. Its main consumer will be the chemical production at Ammonium-2, which produces ammonia and carbamide used for mineral fertilisers.
