X-Energy Reactor Company
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Amazon Invests in X-energy to Support Advanced Small Modular Nuclear Reactors and Expand Carbon-Free Power
X-Energy Reactor Company, LLC (“X-energy”), a leader in advanced nuclear reactor and fuel technology, announced a Series C-1 financing round of approximately $500 million, anchored by Amazon.com, Inc. (“Amazon”). The investment will help meet growing energy demands by funding the completion of X-energy’s reactor design and licensing as well as the first phase of its TRISO-X fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Additionally, the funding will support future carbon-free projects that will use X-energy’s Xe-100 advanced small modular nuclear reactors (“SMRs”). Citadel Founder and CEO Ken Griffin, affiliates of Ares Management Corporation (“Ares”), NGP, and the University of Michigan join Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund in the financing round.
Amazon and X-energy are also collaborating to bring more than 5 gigawatts of new power projects online across the United States by 2039, representing the largest commercial deployment target of SMRs to date. The efforts will help meet growing energy demands in key locations through direct project investments and long-term power purchase agreements to help power Amazon operations. Further, X-energy and Amazon plan to establish and standardize a deployment and financing model to develop projects in partnership with infrastructure and utility partners.
The companies will initially support a four-unit 320-megawatt (“MW”) project with regional utility Energy Northwest in central Washington with the option to increase that project to 12 units and 960 MW. Amazon is immediately committing a direct investment in the Energy Northwest project to fund early development work that X-energy will perform.