The Tennessee Valley Authority and ENTRA1 Energy on Sept. 2 announced the signing of an agreement under which ENTRA1 Energy will collaborate with TVA to develop plants to provide TVA with up to 6 gigawatts of new nuclear power generation on sites in TVA’s seven-state region through the deployment of six ENTRA1 Energy Plants.
"This collaboration could provide enough energy to power the equivalent of approximately 4.5 million homes or 60 new data centers -- at a time when hyperscale data centers, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductor manufacturing, and other energy-intensive technologies are driving unprecedented growth in electricity demand," TVA said in a news release.
ENTRA1 aims to develop and own a portfolio of power infrastructure assets and sell the output to TVA under future power purchase agreements.
ENTRA1 Energy is an American company dedicated to producing power by commercializing and deploying American nuclear and natural gas technologies in its power infrastructure assets.
ENTRA1 Energy is pioneering the commercialization of small modular reactors (SMRs) as a bridge between technologies and end usage of power.
As NuScale’s strategic partner, ENTRA1 Energy drives the deployment, financing, investment, development, execution, and management of ENTRA1 Energy Plants™ with NuScale SMRs inside, the news release noted.
"The TVA and ENTRA1 Energy partnership is an important first step to advance deployment of advanced nuclear technology in America with ENTRA1’s immediate strategy to utilize NuScale’ s SMR equipment inside ENTRA1 Energy Plants™," TVA said.
“TVA is leading the nation in pursuing new nuclear technologies, and no utility in the U.S. is working harder or faster than TVA. This agreement with ENTRA1 Energy highlights the vital role public-private partnerships play in advancing next-generation nuclear technologies that are essential to providing energy security -- reliable, abundant American energy -- and creating jobs and investment across the nation,” said Don Moul, TVA President and CEO.
“The ENTRA1 team brings deep experience in investing in, developing, and executing power infrastructure. Our focus is on deploying best-in-class American technologies in the nuclear SMR and natural gas-fired power sectors – and that is what we are doing in the immediate term via our partnership with NuScale SMRs. We’re investing in the next generation of power solutions to meet the country’s growing energy demands,” said Skip Alvarado, ENTRA1 Energy Chief Projects Officer.
"TVA and ENTRA1 Energy are planning to add megawatts to the TVA service area, which aligns with the Administration’s Energy Dominance agenda and focus on America’s energy security," TVA said.
The partners are identifying opportunities to work with other federal agencies and explore potential sites with new nuclear generation and joint gas-fired capabilities.
"TVA is strategically partnering with innovative companies, like ENTRA1, to advance the development of new nuclear technologies to provide affordable and abundant energy. This is the energy needed to power America’s economic prosperity and fuel artificial intelligence, quantum computing and advanced manufacturing," it said.
ENTRA1 Energy is NuScale’s strategic partner and the two companies have an existing 50/50 joint venture company -- ENTRA1 NuScale LLC. ENTRA1 Energy holds the global exclusive rights to the commercialization, distribution, and deployment of NuScale’s products and services.
ENTRA1 Energy is the one-stop-shop and single hub for the deployment, financing, investment, development, execution, and/or management of ENTRA1 Energy Plants™ with NuScale SMRs inside.
NuScale SMRs are the first and only small modular reactor technology to receive Part 52 approval by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
