Energy Northwest, a premier provider of carbon-free electricity, and X-Energy Reactor Company, LLC (“X-energy”), a leading developer of advanced small modular nuclear reactors and fuel technology for clean energy generation, today announced the signing of a joint development agreement (“JDA”) for up to 12 Xe-100 advanced small modular reactors in central Washington capable of generating up to a total of 960 megawatts of carbon-free electricity. Energy Northwest expects to bring the first Xe-100 module online by 2030.
Energy Northwest owns or operates numerous clean energy generating facilities throughout the Northwest region of the United States, including Columbia Generating Station in Richland, which is the only commercial nuclear energy facility in the region. Under the JDA, the Xe-100 project is expected to be developed at a site controlled by Energy Northwest adjacent to Columbia Generating Station.
Energy Northwest and X-energy have engaged extensively on plans for an Xe-100 facility in central Washington since 2020. The JDA defines and details the scope, location, and schedule under which the commercial development of the project will move forward. The companies will also work together to determine the best approaches to licensing and regulatory matters, as well as the project delivery model.
“Energy Northwest’s mission is to provide the region with clean, reliable and affordable electricity, and X-energy’s innovative advanced reactor technology will be a valuable addition to our existing portfolio of carbon-free electric generating resources,” said Bob Schuetz, CEO of Energy Northwest. “As the Northwest region of the United States pursues a future clean energy grid, it is clear it will need new sources of dependable, carbon-free power. X-energy’s Xe-100 advanced reactor technology possesses many attributes ideally suited to a carbon-constrained electric system, and this agreement reflects our determination to deliver the technologies to meet growing clean energy needs.”
“Energy Northwest is a leader in building the clean energy grid, and the advancement of our partnership is expected to help meet growing commercial and household demand for reliable carbon-free energy across the state of Washington,” said J. Clay Sell, CEO of X-energy. “X-energy is eager to bring the insights and learnings from our ARDP experience to successfully deliver an Xe-100 nuclear power plant in central Washington. Energy Northwest’s experience as a leading nuclear operator in the region uniquely positions it to showcase the benefits and scalability of advanced nuclear.”
Each Xe-100 module can provide 80 megawatts of full-time electricity or 200 megawatts of high-temperature steam. X-energy’s innovative and simplified modular design is road-shippable and intended to drive scalability, accelerate construction timelines and create more predictable and manageable construction costs. The Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technology can power a broad range of applications through its high-temperature steam output that can address the needs of large regional electricity providers as well as industrial manufacturing systems.
As previously announced in May 2023, Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW) selected its UCC Seadrift Operations manufacturing site on the Texas Gulf Coast for X-energy’s first deployment of the Xe-100 as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (“ARDP”). X-energy was awarded $1.2 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2021 under the ARDP in federal cost-shared funding to develop, license, build and demonstrate an operational advanced reactor and fuel fabrication facility by the end of the decade.
