US-based Kairos Power and Google have signed a Master Plant Development Agreement seeking to deploy a fleet of advanced nuclear power projects totalling 500 MWe by 2035.
Kairos Power is following a “rapid iterative development” approach to bring to market its Hermes low-power reactor that the company is using to advance the development of its KP-FHR fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor technology. This means designing, building, and testing multiple prototypes, learning lessons, and improving processes along the way. ETU 1.0 was a full-scale, electrically heated prototype of Hermes. The next iteration, ETU 2.0, is already underway in Albuquerque and will focus on demonstrating the modular design of the reactor. After that, ETU 3.0 will be built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee adjacent to the eventual site of the Hermes reactor.
Under the agreement with Google, Kairos Power will develop, construct, and operate a series of advanced reactor plants and sell energy, ancillary services, and environmental attributes to Google under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Plants will be sited in relevant service territories to supply clean electricity to Google data centres, with the first deployment planned for 2030 to support Google’s 24/7 carbon-free energy and net zero goals.
The agreement will support technology development by extending Kairos Power’s iterative demonstration strategy through its first commercial deployments. Along the way, milestone-based accountability, which is part of the agreement, will establish confidence in Kairos Power’s ability to deliver throughout the long-term partnership.
“Our partnership with Google will enable Kairos Power to quickly advance down the learning curve as we drive toward cost and schedule certainty for our commercial product,” said Mike Laufer, Kairos Power CEO & co-founder. “By coming alongside in the development phase, Google is more than just a customer. They are a partner who deeply understands our innovative approach and the potential it can deliver.”
“Having an agreement for multiple deployments is important to accelerate the commercialization of advanced nuclear energy by demonstrating the technical and market viability of a solution critical to decarbonizing power grids while delivering much-needed energy generation and capacity,” said Jeff Olson, Kairos Power Vice President, Business Development & Finance. “This early commitment from Google provides a strong customer demand signal, which reinforces Kairos Power’s continued investment in our iterative development approach and commercial production scale-up.”
Michael Terrell, Google Senior Director of Energy & Climate said the agreement “is a key part of our effort to commercialize and scale the advanced energy technologies we need to reach our net zero and 24/7 carbon-free energy goals and ensure that more communities benefit from clean and affordable power in the future”.
Google pioneered the first corporate purchase agreements for renewable electricity and since has played a pivotal role in accelerating clean energy solutions, Terrell said in a blog post. “By procuring electricity from multiple reactors … we will help accelerate the repeated reactor deployments that are needed to lower costs and bring Kairos Power’s technology to market more quickly. This is an important part of our approach to scale the benefits of advanced technologies to more people and communities, and builds on our previous efforts,” he said.
