Amazon delivers nuclear deal to boost North East

A multi-million-pound Amazon deal has put US-based X-energy - proposing to build a North East nuclear power plant - at the heart of a global carbon-free energy revolution.

X-energy has announced a partnership with the multinational tech company to meet growing energy demand across the world.

Officials say the collaboration sets a new course for commercialising advanced nuclear energy and follows two major supply chain and workshop events on Teesside that were attended by more than 100 representatives from local and national companies.

The gatherings, including industrial energy users, clean fuel companies and policy makers, first met at Hartlepool College of Further Education to hear about the opportunities offered by X-energy’s proposed new build project.

That was followed by a workshop, co-hosted with nuclear heat experts Equilibrion, The Energy Intensive User Group and NEPIC at The Wilton Centre, near Redcar, which focused on how X-energy’s technology can be applied across the UK to directly decarbonise current and future heavy industry by providing high temperature steam.

The Amazon deal across the Atlantic will see a series of carbon-free projects using X-energy’s Xe-100 advanced small modular nuclear reactors.

This round of fresh investment, which is worth approximately $500 million and anchored by Amazon, will support X-energy’s drive for a new wave of nuclear technology.

X-energy is proposing to develop a 12-reactor power plant next to its existing nuclear power station in Hartlepool by the early 2030s.

Bosses say the funding will support future carbon-free projects that will use X-energy’s Xe-100 advanced small modular nuclear reactors that are being proposed for roll-out across the UK, starting with Hartlepool.

Additionally, they say the investment will help meet growing energy demands in the US by funding the completion of X-energy's reactor design and licensing, as well as the first phase of its fuel fabrication facility in Tennessee.

J. Clay Sell, X-energy chief executive, said: “To fully realise the opportunities available through artificial intelligence, we must bring clean, safe and reliable electrons onto the grid with proven technologies that can scale and grow with demand.”

As well as pressing ahead with UK plans, X-energy is collaborating with Amazon to work together to bring more than five gigawatts of new power projects online across the US by 2039.

Kevin Miller, Amazon’s vice president of global data centres, added: “This collaboration between Amazon and X-energy is a significant step toward accelerating advanced nuclear technologies that can help us bring new sources of carbon-free energy to the grid cost-effectively and safely.” 

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