US-based X-energy and the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) have teamed up to explore opportunities to create jobs and develop clean, zero-carbon energy within the state of Maryland, X-energy has said. MEA has awarded grants to X-energy and Frostburg State University to work together to evaluate the economic viability and social-economic advantages of repurposing a specific Maryland coal-fired electric generating facility with X-energy’s Xe-100, an advanced small modular reactor (SMR). A joint analysis of the findings will be delivered to MEA later this year.
X-energy is deploying the Xe-100, a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, under the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Programme. Each reactor unit can produce 80MWe and can be configured to scale up to 12 reactor units at a single site to generate almost 1 GWe of power.
The Maryland General Assembly earlier this year passed sweeping emissions reductions targets in the Climate Solutions Now Act, setting incremental goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions with the ultimate goal of achieving net-zero emissions across the State’s economy by 2045. X-energy and Frostburg State’s analysis will assist MEA and policymakers in providing meaningful information relating to energy management, promoting the transfer and commercialisation of energy technology from private and public laboratories to citizens of the State, and helping MEA develop strategic plans and implement policies relating to energy supply management.
