AEP, Amazon and X-energy sign agreement for 960 MW Indiana SMR plant
Twelve Xe-100 units of 80 MW each, in three groups of four, are envisaged if the project reaches a final investment decision, per the companies.
Key facts
- Amazon to back development through a funding agreement and a long-term power purchase agreement
- Former I&M Breed Generating Station site; about 1,000 construction jobs and 100 permanent, per the developers
- Second project under the 2024 Amazon-X-energy collaboration, targeting over 5 GW by 2039, per the companies
- Xe-100 pebble bed high-temperature gas reactor: 200 MW thermal; four-unit plant optimized at 320 MWe
- First Xe-100 deployment planned for Dow's Seadrift site on the Texas Gulf Coast, per X-energy
American Electric Power and X-energy have signed a joint development agreement to evaluate a potential 960 MW project at a former coal plant site in Sullivan County, Indiana. Amazon will support the project's development through a funding agreement and a long-term power purchase agreement covering "the costs of the facility and its operations for the duration of the contract", the companies said on October 19.
X-energy's Xe-100 small modular reactor provides 80 MW. If the project reaches a final investment decision, the plan envisages 12 units arranged in three groups of four. The site under evaluation is I&M's former Breed Generating Station. Sullivan County recently became part of the Indiana Advanced Nuclear Ready Communities Program. The project is likely to create about 1,000 construction jobs and 100 permanent jobs.
Second project under 2024 collaboration
It would be the second project under a 2024 collaboration in which Amazon took a stake in X-energy and the two announced a goal of adding more than 5 GW of new nuclear capacity to the US grid by 2039. The first is at the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility in Washington state. Amazon says it will be "the first offtake customer" of these projects.
Xe-100 is a pebble bed reactor
The Xe-100 is a pebble bed high-temperature gas reactor with a thermal output of 200 MW, or 80 MW electrical. It uses TRISO fuel — small spheres of enriched uranium coated in layers of carbon and ceramic. Optimised as a four-unit plant delivering 320 MWe, it can supply baseload power or high-pressure, high-temperature steam for industrial applications. Its first deployment is planned for Dow's Seadrift site on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Fuel licence granted in February
TRISO-X, X-energy's fuel subsidiary, received a 40-year Special Nuclear Material Licence from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in February, enabling it to commercially manufacture fuel using HALEU under a single licence. HALEU contains between 5% and 20% fissile uranium-235, against 3.5% to 5% in typical uranium fuel used in today's operating commercial reactors.
