US-based start-up Last Energy has announced plans to build 30 microreactors in Haskell County, Texas to serve American data centre customers. Since it was founded in 2019, the company had raised capital totalling $64m by late 2024. The company is developing a 20 MWe modular microreactor, the PWR-20, designed to be fabricated, transported, and assembled within 24 months, and is sized to serve private industrial customers. Last Energy says it will own and operate the plant on the customer’s site, “bypassing the decade-long development timelines of electric transmission grid upgrade requirements”.
The company has obtained site control in Texas and will build its microreactors on a 200-acre site supplying power to offtakers via a mix of private wires and grid transmission. The company has already filed for a grid connection with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and is preparing to file for an Early Site Permit with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
“Texas is America’s undisputed energy leader, but skyrocketing population growth and data centre development is forcing policymakers, customers, and energy providers to embrace new technologies,” said Last Energy Founder & CEO Bret Kugelmass. “Nuclear power is the most effective way to meet Texas’s demand, but our solution – plug-and-play microreactors, designed for scalability and siting flexibility – is the best way to meet it quickly. Texas is a state that recognises energy is a precondition for prosperity, and Last Energy is excited to contribute to that mission.”
Last Energy is responding to the demand from Texas-based data centre developers over the last year. Of the company’s existing commercial agreements, which, it says, entail the delivery of over 80 microreactors across Europe, half will serve data centres. The Texas site would increase the company’s development capacity by another 30 units, and enable the development of a commercial pipeline throughout the US.
Last Energy is a founding member of the Texas Nuclear Alliance, which aims to accelerate nuclear deployment across the state. Texas is currently home to over 340 data centres which consume nearly eight gigawatts of power and make up 9% of all Texas electricity demand. In the Dallas-Fort Worth region alone, data centres are expected to drive an additional 43 GWe of demand.
Last Energy previously built two full-scale prototypes in Texas with local manufacturing partners. The company has also held multiple demonstration events in Texas with industry and government stakeholders. It is also exploring projects in Utah. The company has also secured its first full core load of fuel, scheduled to arrive in September 2026.
In the UK, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has confirmed Last Energy has entered the ONR nuclear site licensing process for plans to develop four 20 MWe microreactors in South Wales.
