RICHLAND, Wash.- Energy Northwest has signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with X-Energy Reactor Company, LLC (“X-energy”) to bring up to 12 small modular nuclear reactors to central Washington, with the first going online by 2030.
“It is exciting to see Energy Northwest and X-energy keep Central Washington at the forefront of energy innovation in this country while delivering on the growing need for clean energy technologies,” said U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse.
Energy Northwest, which owns or operates clean energy sites throughout the northwest, including the Columbia Generating Station in Richland, and X-energy have been working on plans for an Xe-100 facility in central Washington since 2020 according to a press release announcing the reactor project.
The x-e 100 project is expected to be developed at a site run by Energy Northwest adjacent to the Columbia Generating Station.
Under the JDA announced today the two companies will work together to determine the best approaches to licensing and regulatory matters, as well as the project delivery model.
Each Xe-100 module can provide 80 megawatts of full-time electricity or 200 megawatts of high-temperature steam according to today’s press release. X-energy’s simplified modular reactor design is road-shippable and intended to drive scalability, accelerate construction timelines and create more predictable and manageable construction costs.
“Today’s historic announcement between Energy Northwest and X-energy will not only secure Washington’s ability to provide clean, affordable, and dispatchable energy throughout our region, but will supply job opportunities for hundreds of our members and their families,” said Nickolas Bumpaous, President, Central Washington Building and Construction Trades Council.
