Amazon-Led Consortium Invests $500 Million in X-Energy’s Advanced Nuclear Reactors and Expansion of Carbon-Free Power
X-Energy’s Series C-1 includes Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Ken Griffen, Ares Management affiliates, NGP & the University of Michigan.
(Rockville, Maryland) Advanced nuclear reactor and fuel technology company X-Energy announced today a Series C-1 financing round of approximately $500 million, anchored by Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).
Photo of X-Energy’s XE-100 plant courtesy of X-Energy.
The investment will help meet X-Energy’s growing energy demands by funding the completion of its 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), according to today’s press release from X-Energy.
The Series C-1 financing round includes Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Citadel Founder and CEO Ken Griffin, Ares Management, NGP Energy Capital, and the University of Michigan.
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. X-Energy and Amazon also plan to establish and standardize a deployment and financing model to develop projects in partnership with infrastructure and utility players, per X-Energy.
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, according to X-Energy.
“This collaboration between Amazon and X-energy is a significant step toward accelerating advanced nuclear technologies that can help us bring new sources of carbon-free energy to the grid cost-effectively and safely,” said Kevin Miller, Amazon’s Vice President of Global Data Centers. “We need smart solutions that can help us meet growing energy demands while also addressing climate change. X-energy’s technology will be integral in helping achieve this, and is an important step in Amazon’s work to achieve our Climate Pledge commitment to be net-zero by 2040.”
“Nuclear is an important source of clean and reliable power that our nation needs to meet the growing demand for energy,” said Ken Griffin, Founder and CEO of Citadel, whose affiliate is one of the lead investors X-Energy’s Series C-1. “X-energy provides an impactful solution to a critical challenge – and the support Amazon, Dow, and other major corporations have provided underscores its potential and merit.”
