Mentioned:
American Electric Power is exploring a new nuclear energy project to Indiana. And they’re partnering up with Amazon and X-energy to do it.
What’s happening:
- American Electric Power (NASDAQ: AEP) and X-energy (NASDAQ: XE) have entered into a joint development agreement to evaluate the potential of building a 960 megawatt advanced nuclear power project at a former coal plant in Sullivan County, Indiana
Why it matters:
- Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is supporting the project development through a funding agreement and has publicly stated they intend to purchase the power under a long-term contract if the project begins constructions and moves closer to commercial operation
Going deeper:
- The new proposed project in Sullivan Country, Indiana would initially include 12 of X-energy’s 80 megawatt Xe-100 reactors
- X-energy’s Xe-100 small modular reactors use helium gas rather than water as a coolant and runs on TRISO fuel
The intrigue:
- American Electric Power previously made major waves on Wall Street when they were awarded a $3.26B USD loan from the United States Department of Energy to build roughly 100 new grid projects located in Texas
