US-based X-energy Reactor Company and Canadian power company TransAlta Corporation have announced a partnership to study deployment of X-energy’s Xe-100 small modular reactors (SMRs) in Alberta. The study will be supported through funding from Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) and will assess the feasibility of repurposing a fossil fuel electricity generation site for an Xe-100 plant.
The Xe-100 is a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor with a thermal output of 200 MWt or an electrical output of 80 MWe. It can be scaled into a four-pack 320 MWe power plant, fuelled by the company's proprietary TRISO-X tri-structural isotropic particle fuel. The Xe-100 evolved from both the UK’s Dragon reactor at Winfrith in Dorset and the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor project in South Africa. X-energy was selected by the US Department of Energy (DOE) in 2020 to receive up to $1.2bn in matching funds under the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) to develop, license, build, and demonstrate an operational advanced reactor and fuel fabrication facility by the end of the decade. X-Energy has since completed the reactor engineering and basic design and is developing a fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge in Tennessee.
X-energy and TransAlta will evaluate the economics, regulatory impacts, licensing requirements, timelines, and overall suitability of deploying an Xe-100 plant at a fossil fuel power plant site. The study will also focus on identifying and building Alberta-based supply chain partners and vendors and economic benefits for the province. X-energy and TransAlta will be supported by Canada-based nuclear and professional engineering firms, including Hatch Ltd, Kinectrics, and PCL Nuclear Management.
ERA awarded X-energy through its competitive proposal-based Reshaping Energy Systems funding opportunity, an initiative supported by the Government of Alberta designed to invest in promising technologies and solutions to reduce emissions throughout the province. In 2023, Alberta established a goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. X-energy aims to deploy the first advanced small modular reactor in Alberta by the early 2030s.
X-energy has already completed milestones in the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) pre-licensing Vendor Design Review. CNSC found no fundamental barriers to licensing the Xe-100. ARDP is supporting X-energy’s initial deployment of the Xe-100 at Dow’s Seadrift, Texas facility as well as a new commercial facility to manufacture TRISO-X high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel for next-generation reactors. The project in Seadrift aims to be the first grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor deployed to
The Government of Alberta is investing CAD33.7m ($24.8m) in 13 projects through ERA’s Reshaping Energy Systems funding competition. These projects, valued at approximately CAD88m in public and private investment, focus on technologies that will reduce emissions and contribute to a more flexible and sustainable energy grid in Alberta. All funding is sourced from the Government of Alberta’s Technology Innovation & Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund.
ERA CEO Justin Riemer said funding amounts range from CAD500,000 to CAD6.5m, and each project will be piloted, demonstrated, or deployed within Alberta. This funding is also expected to create 830 person-year jobs in Alberta and have a CAD125m GDP impact in the province by 2025.
Funding for X-energy Canada’s feasibility study is CAD623,152 for an estimated project cost of CAD1.28m. Benjamin Reinke, Vice President for Global Business Development at X-energy said the partnership with ERA “marks a significant step forward for clean energy technologies in the province”. He added: “We are pleased to work with TransAlta, a leader in power production, innovation, and sustainability, to evaluate how X-energy can support the province’s climate goals. Alberta’s tradition of energy innovation combined with our advanced nuclear technology offers a powerful solution to reducing emissions while increasing reliable baseload generation capacity and supporting the region’s key economic drivers.”
Image: The Xe-100 reactor design (courtesy of X-energy)
