X-energy Reactor Company, LLC, a developer of advanced nuclear reactors and fuel technology, and Talen Energy Corporation, an independent power producer, signed a Letter of Intent to assess deploying X-energy’s XE-100 small modular reactors in Pennsylvania and across the PJM Interconnection Regional Transmission Organization market.
X-energy and Talen will explore opportunities to deploy three or more four-unit XE-100 plants to add clean baseload capacity to help support reliability and meet growing energy demand from onshoring of manufacturing, data centers, and electrification.
Under the agreement, X-energy and Talen plan to conduct early-stage project development activities, including feasibility studies, site evaluations, and a project execution framework. While specific siting parameters have yet to be finalized, the Companies intend to assess opportunities to transition fossil-fired generation to nuclear power through X-energy SMRs, leveraging established infrastructure, transmission connectivity, and workforce resources.
X-energy’s XE-100 is an 80-megawatt high-temperature gas-cooled reactor that is strongly aligned to meet the Mid-Atlantic region’s growing energy needs, with unique characteristics well-suited to regional grids, hyperscale data centers, and other large commercial off-takers.
The XE-100 is deployed as a four to twelve-unit plant, with each reactor capable of coming online independently upon completion. This allows end users to phase in capacity one unit at a time, aligning new generation with demand growth and matching power supply to real-world load expansion. The XE-100’s advanced design also enables the efficient use of air-cooling systems, significantly reducing overall water usage, and offering greater siting flexibility as compared to conventional reactors.
"The partnership intends to support Talen’s commitment to Powering the Future. Repowering or adding capacity with technologies like the XE-100 enables power providers to utilize new sources of energy while preserving critical transmission infrastructure and local economic continuity," a news release said.
X-energy is currently developing more than 11 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity across commercial partnerships in the United States and United Kingdom.
In Texas, X-energy and Dow are advancing a proposed four-unit plant to power industrial processes under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.
This is expected to be followed by Energy Northwest’s Cascade Advanced Energy Facility, the first of several X-energy and Amazon projects to deploy at least 5 GW of new nuclear by 2039, as well as a 6 GW commitment from Centrica for the United Kingdom’s first fleet of advanced reactors.
