Amazon will finance the development of a nuclear project of 960 megawatts (MW) in Indiana, in the United States, that calls for the installation of 12 small modular reactors on the site of a former coal plant. The initiative was announced on Monday (19) in partnership with utility American Electric Power (AEP) and nuclear technology developer X-energy.
The project will be evaluated for the area of the former Breed Generating Station in Sullivan County. The facility would have 12 Xe-100 reactors of 80 MW each, organized into three groups of four units. The electricity would be supplied to the regional grid, serving both local consumers and Amazon's data centers.
The company's participation goes beyond initial financing. Amazon intends to become the first buyer of the power produced, through a long-term contract that, according to AEP, would cover the costs of the facility and of operating it during the term of the agreement. The utility would be responsible for operations, while X-energy would supply the nuclear technology.
The investment amount was not disclosed. Amazon's contribution to development will be tied to meeting project milestones.
Construction depends on a decision expected in 2029
Despite the announcement, construction has not yet been approved. The current agreement allows AEP and X-energy to move forward with feasibility studies before a final decision on the investment.
According to Shane Lies, AEP's president of nuclear development, in an interview with Bloomberg, the companies expect to decide whether they will proceed with the project by the end of 2029. There is still no confirmed date for the start of construction or for the start of operations.
An important condition is protecting local consumers from the project's costs. Josh Weissman, vice president of data center infrastructure at Amazon, said the company intends to develop nearly 1 GW of capacity for the regional grid and assume its costs in full, without transferring them to third parties.
The Xe-100 technology uses helium as a coolant and TRISO nuclear fuel, designed to withstand high temperatures. No commercial facility with these reactors has entered operation so far. X-energy's first project, developed for a Dow industrial facility in Texas, is still going through the federal licensing process.
The Indiana facility represents the second initiative of the partnership between Amazon and X-energy, after the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility project in Washington state. The two companies are working toward the goal of adding more than 5 gigawatts of nuclear capacity to the American power grid by 2039, a commitment originally announced in 2024.
If it moves forward, the new plant could create more than 1,000 jobs during construction and more than 100 permanent positions, according to estimates released by Amazon.
