Meta Signs 20 Year Power Deal with Constellation
Czech-KHNP Dukovany Contract Signed After Court Lifts Injunction
Allseas Plans Rapid SMR Deployment in Ships
New Danish Nuclear Power Fund Targets Raising $400 Million
Lightbridge Completes Final Experiment Design for ATR Core Position
Fusion Startup TAE Technologies Raises $150 Million in Latest Funding Round
Type One Energy Completes Formal Initial Design Review of Fusion Power Plant
General Fusion Seeks New Investors While Laying Off 25% of Its Employees
Facebook Signs 20 Year Power Deal with Constellation
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsAPP, and Instagram signed a 20 year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Constellation for access to power from the utility’s Clinton Nuclear Facility which is located in rural Illinois about 70 miles southeast of Peoria, IL. The plant currently generates 1,121 MW of power.
The PPA is an outcome of an RFP Meta released last December asking developers to meet the firm’s AI innovation and sustainability objectives. The RFP asks for “new generation” capacity of 1-4 GW of nuclear power.
The uprate planned for the Clinton nuclear reactor, presumably to service Meta’s Midwestern US data centers, is a mere 30 MW. Clearly, this is likely the first of a series of PPAs to feed Meta’s enormous needs for energy. Meta operates one data center campus in Illinois, located in DeKalb. This campus consists of five data center buildings.
Beginning in June of 2027, the agreement supports the relicensing and continued operations of Constellation’s high-performing Clinton nuclear facility for another two decades after the state’s ratepayer funded zero emission credit (ZEC) program expires.
This deal will expand Clinton’s output by 30 MW through plant uprates; preserve 1,100 high-paying local jobs; deliver $13.5 million in annual tax revenue; and add $1 million in charitable giving to local nonprofits over five years.
The Clinton Clean Energy Center was slated for premature closure in 2017 after years of financial losses, despite being one of the best performing nuclear plants in Illinois. Clinton’s retirement was prevented by enactment of the Illinois Future Energy Jobs Act, which established a Zero Emission Credit program that provides financial support to the plant through mid-2027.
Constellation’s agreement with Meta is a market-based solution that essentially replaces the ZEC program and ensures long-term operations of the plant without ratepayer support. The PPA will enable the Clinton Clean Energy Center to continue to flow power onto the local grid, providing grid reliability and low-cost power to the region for decades to come.
Meta is purchasing the plant’s clean energy attributes as part of its commitment to match 100% of its electricity use with clean and renewable energy. Press statements from the parties did not indicate how much of the power Meta would take from the reactor. However, the uprate of 30 MW is an indicator that Mata’s draw on the plant’s generating power will not impact existing customers.
This is the second power purchase agreement Constellation has signed with a major IT platform. In September 2024 the utility signed a 20-year PPA with Microsoft for power from the utility’s previously shuttered TMI-1 in Pennsylvania. The utility is expected to spend as much as $1.6 billion. The utility is targeting mid-2028 to complete relicensing with the NRC and to restart the reactor.
With regard to Meta's PPA with the utility, given the dire financial straits the reactor would be in, with the anticipated expiration of Illinois tax credits, it is worth asking whether Meta was asked by Constellation to match the premium rates Microsoft is expected to pay under its PPA when TMI-1 comes back online.
It is expected that other nuclear utilities may follow in Constellation’s footsteps. In Iowa NextEra is evaluating options for the restart of the closed Duane Arnold nuclear reactor to supply energy to Iowa’s booming data center industry. Facebook and Google have the largest data centers in the state. Others include Microsoft, Windstream, and Next Era itself. Key cities with large data centers in Iowa include Des Moines Area, Ames, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Dubuque, and Sioux City.
The Clinton nuclear plant feeds the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s grid, known as MISO, which includes central and southern Illinois. Meta’s data center in DeKalb is served by the PJM Interconnection grid. The MISO grid also serves Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.
The agreement with Meta will allow Constellation to add more energy to the grid in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s (MISO) zone four territory, covering central and southern Illinois. Under the deal, Clinton will add 30 MW of increased output from nuclear uprates. With the guarantee that Clinton will continue to run for another two decades,
Constellation said it is evaluating strategies to extend the plant’s existing early site permit or seek a new construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to pursue development of an advanced nuclear reactor or small modular reactor (SMR) at the Clinton Clean Energy Center site. The utility did not indicate a timeline for these proposed actions. I is plausible the new nuclear generating capacity may be driven by the power needs of data centers in utiluty’s service area.
Reuters quoted Joe Dominguez, CEO of Constellation who said: “We’re definitely having conversations with other clients, not just in Illinois, but really across the country, to step in and do what Meta has done, which is essentially give us a backstop so that we could make the investments needed to re-license these assets and keep them operating.”
Meta and AI Drive Demand for Power
It isn’t clear how the power from the Clinton reactor will be allocated to Meta IT operations located in the regional grid. One thing is sure. Demand for power from data centers is on the growth spurt.
According to a CNBC for 04/28/25 CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s plan is to make Meta the market leader in artificial intelligence. The company reportedly plans to spend $65 billion in the next 12 months on its global artificial intelligence infrastructure. In an earnings call the company cautioned that spending number might increase as the cost of equipment for its data centers could be impact by Trump’s tariffs.
Generative AI technology has become Meta’s top priority, directly impacting the company’s business and potentially creating future revenue opportunities which includes applications for an augmented reality headset.
CNBC noted in its report AI is an infrastructure technology that Zuckerberg wants hardwired into its various products, particularly as competitors like OpenAI continue to make inroads with consumers.
According to data compiled by SOAX, on a global basis Meta’s Instagram and WhatsApp hold the second and third place respectively. As of 2024, Facebook is on top with 3.1 billion monthly active users, followed by YouTube with 2.5 billion. Instagram and WhatsApp are tied for third place, each with 2 billion users. Facebook messenger has just over 1 billion monthly active users.
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Czech-KHNP Dukovany Contract Signed After Court Lifts Injunction
(WNN) The contract with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power for new nuclear capacity at the Dukovany site in the Czech Republic has been signed with CEZ, the state-owned nuclear, after the Czech Supreme Administrative Court annulled a regional court’s injunction to stop it from happening. The KHNP bid was said to be for around $8.6 billion per unit with plans for two 1,000 MW PWRs to be build at the Dukovany site. At $17.2 billion the cost comes in at $8,600/Kw. Improvements to grid connections and related infrastructure puts the total cost of the package over $18 billion.
EDF had challenged the contract award on multiple grounds, but the supreme court tossed an injunction by a lower court that would have stalled the award until EDF’s claims could be adjudicated. EDF’s cost competitive posture in global markets is characterized by significant schedule delays and cost overruns for reactors in Finland, France, and the UK. However, the French state-owned nuclear utility argued that KHNP was violating European Union rules regarding alleged subsides from KHNP to drive the cost down for its bid.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, writing on Facebook, said: “The contract for the completion of Dukovany has just been signed. One of the largest projects in the modern history of the Czech Republic aims to ensure the energy security and self-sufficiency of the Czech Republic – for today’s and future generations.
He said Czech companies will take about 60% of the construction work, with contracts already signed for about 30%.
“The new units will produce electricity for a price of under 90 euros per megawatt hour – cheaper than similar projects in Poland or the UK. Today we have taken a step that will strengthen the Czech Republic for decades to come.”
Background on the Litigation
The Czech Republic is planning new nuclear capacity and in July last year announced KHNP was the preferred bidder, ahead of EDF. The KHNP bid for two 1,000 MW PWRs was said to be for around $8.6 billion per unit. EDF brought a case to the Czech competition authority challenging the tender process, which was dismissed in April.
That cleared the way for the planned signing of the official contracts with KHNP in May. However EDF succeeded in securing a last-minute court injunction in a Czech regional court to stop the contract being signed until its case relating to the tender process has been heard in court. In response the project development company Elektrárna Dukovany II and KHNP both appealed to the Czech Supreme Administrative Court to get the injunction lifted.
The French company EDF’s objections to the tender process include the belief that the KHNP offer price and the inclusion of a guarantee that the construction would not be delayed or become more expensive, would be “unfeasible without illegal state aid given the prices in the nuclear industry.”
EDF says that if their rival bidder had state support it would breach European Union rules. The European Union is conducting a preliminary review “to assess whether potential foreign financial contributions received by the Party (KHNP) constitute foreign subsidies and, if so, whether those foreign subsidies distort the internal market with respect to the project.”
KHNP rejects that case and said it “welcomes the decision of the Czech Supreme Administrative Court to dismiss the injunction that sought to block the contract signature between EDU II and KHNP for the Czech new nuclear power plant project”.
The Czech government says that according to the “expert opinion of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the EPC contract with the company KHNP was not subject to the Regulation on Foreign Subsidies. This was due to both the nature of the contract itself and the fact that the tender procedure had been initiated before the effective date of this Regulation.”
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Allseas Plans Rapid SMR Deployment in Ships
Dutch offshore construction engineering contractor Allseas has launched a five-year plan to design, develop and deploy a small modular reactor tailored for integration into offshore vessels and for onshore use.
(WNN) The company has selected high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs), using tri-structural isotropic – or TRISO – particle fuel, with a power output of about 25 MWe. It said it selected this small modular reactor (SMR) technology “due to their inherently safe characteristics”.
In the first year, Allseas aims to complete its initial design studies for offshore and onshore use. This will be followed by prototype development and pre-licensing discussions in consultation with key stakeholders. The include regulators (such as the Dutch Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection, the International Maritime Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)) as well as safety and classification bodies (including Lloyd’s Register). Research and innovation partners, include TNO, NRG-Pallas, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), and the Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners (KVNR).
“Our goal is to start production at a dedicated facility by 2030,” said Stephanie Heerema, Project Manager Nuclear Developments at Allseas.
“Initial deployment will likely begin on land, followed by application on our own vessels and broader industry adoption. This aligns with our own sustainability targets – 30% emissions reduction by 2030, and net-zero operations by 2050.”
Allseas said that responsible waste management was central to its long-term plan, so the company is exploring circular approaches, such as the reuse of graphite and reprocessing of used TRISO fuel, to “further reduce environmental impact, ensuring waste management remains a key consideration throughout the SMR lifecycle”.
According to Allseas, nuclear offers “unmatched energy density, combining zero emissions with stable, scalable power supply”. For onshore industrial clusters, it says “SMRs can ease grid pressure while providing consistent, carbon-free power and heat – accelerating decarbonization and boosting industrial resilience and long-term competitiveness.”
Prior Coverage on this Blog
Hyundai to Offer Container Ships Powered by SMRs
https://neutronbytes.com/2025/02/16/hyundai-to-offer-container-ships-powered-by-smrs/
Westinghouse and Core Power Partner on eVini for Floating Power
https://neutronbytes.com/2024/11/30/westinghouse-and-core-power-partner-on-evinci-for-floating-power/
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New Danish Nuclear Power Fund Targets Raising $400 Million
The Bloomberg wire service reports that a Danish fund, 92 Capital, is seeking to raise about $400 million to invest in the nuclear power industry and its supply chain. The fund plans to build a portfolio of 10-30 companies over a decade, with a focus on European firms.
92 Capital aims to invest in nuclear power vendors, companies that support the rollout of atomic energy and supply chain such as fuel, said two of the fund’s partners. It plans to approach large Danish institutional investors, including pension funds.
The fund is backed by Joachim Ante, co-founder and former chief technology officer of software company Unity Technologies, who has put in about €50 million of his own money in it so far.
The fund, which will have a hard limit at €450 million, will build a portfolio of 10 to 30 companies over a decade, with the bulk of money going toward firms based in Europe. It’s aiming for returns of two to five times the invested amount.
The predecessor to the new fund, 92 Ventures, has already backed two Nordic nuclear reactor developers — Blykalla AB and Steady Energy Oy. These firms focus on small modular reactors, which can be built much quicker than a traditional facility. The drawback is that many of these are still in the design phase and are awaiting regulatory approval.
Investors have been interested in putting money into nuclear, but have been “uncomfortable” with the due diligence needed with the complex sector, said Mads Steenberg, also a partner at 92 Capital and a former chief executive officer of Danish nuclear firm Copenhagen Atomics.
“That is where we can come in and do the due diligence for them, and ease the pain for investment in nuclear space.”
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Lightbridge Completes Final Experiment Design for Designated ATR Core Position
Lightbridge Corporation (Nasdaq: LTBR), a leader in advanced nuclear fuel technology, announced the completion of the final design review for its upcoming irradiation experiment, marking a critical step toward advancing its next-generation Lightbridge Fuel product. The design review, a required approval before proceeding with the experiment, is a significant milestone in the ongoing collaboration between Lightbridge and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).
Key highlights of this achievement include:
Final Design Review Completed: The final design review of Lightbridge’s irradiation experiment was successfully completed, constituting the necessary approval to proceed with the experiment. This milestone is an important step toward the next phase of testing in INL’s Advanced Test Reactor (ATR).
Independent Approval of Experiment Parameters: The neutronics, thermal, and mechanical parameters for the experiment have been independently reviewed and approved by INL scientists. These parameters are designed to support the safe and effective operation of the experiment in the ATR, ensuring reliable and accurate testing conditions.
Irradiation Testing to Support Regulatory Efforts: The planned irradiation testing program, coupled with post-irradiation examination activities (the scope of which will be detailed in a future Project Task Statement), aims to generate critical irradiation performance data for Lightbridge’s advanced fuel. This data will play a key role in supporting Lightbridge’s regulatory licensing efforts for the commercial deployment of its innovative fuel technology.
“This is a significant milestone in our collaboration with Lightbridge,” said Jess Gehin, Associate Laboratory Director for Nuclear Science & Technology at Idaho National Laboratory.
“We share a common commitment to advancing nuclear technology, marked by the completion of this final design review and approval of experiment parameters. This irradiation experiment is an important step in testing and validating the performance of Lightbridge’s advanced fuel in a test reactor environment.”
“We are pleased to complete this crucial phase of the experiment design process,” said Dr. Scott Holcombe, Vice President of Engineering, at Lightbridge.
“The successful approval of the final design, along with the collaboration with INL, will enable us to move forward with the irradiation testing in the Advanced Test Reactor. This testing will provide essential data to support our regulatory efforts and further validate the performance of Lightbridge Fuel™ as we move toward commercial deployment.”
“China and Russia are the only other countries that we believe have test reactors with the capabilities that the Advanced Test Reactor will provide for Lightbridge. We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Energy and Idaho National Laboratory for making the important decision to allow industry to access the Advanced Test Reactor and for allowing Lightbridge to utilize this reactor,” said Seth Grae, President and CEO of Lightbridge.
“It is an important achievement for Lightbridge to have obtained this approval to begin in-reactor testing of our fuel.”
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~ Fusion Energy News ~
TAE Technologies Raises $150 Million in Latest Funding Round
The latest investor round supports TAE’s efforts to deliver world’s first commercial fusion power. Google continues more than 10-year research and funding partnership with TAE
TAE Technologies (TAE) announced that it has raised more than $150 million in its latest funding round, exceeding the company’s initial target for the round. Chevron, Google and NEA participated in the round, among other new and existing investors.
TAE has the option to raise additional capital as part of this funding round with more than $1.3 billion in equity capital raised since inception.
Earlier this year, TAE announced a major milestone that fundamentally advances the performance, practicality and reactor-readiness of its proprietary fusion technology. The company’s “Norm” breakthrough – achieving stable plasma at over 70 million C in a simplified fusion device – was made possible in part through TAE’s more than decade-long collaboration with Google.
Since 2014, TAE and Google Research have worked together to accelerate fusion science using cutting-edge machine learning. Google engineers worked onsite at TAE facilities to co-develop advanced plasma reconstruction algorithms, leading to significantly improved plasma lifetime and performance.
Google’s deep integration into TAE’s engineering teams helped the company unlock a practical path to economic fusion and was instrumental in enabling the Norm breakthrough that now paves the way for TAE’s next milestone: validating net energy capability in its Copernicus reactor.
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Type One Energy Completes Formal Initial Design Review of Fusion Power Plant
Type One Energy announced that it had successfully completed the first formal design review of Infinity Two, which is based on the world’s only implementable, peer-reviewed physics basis for a fusion power plant recently published by the prestigious Journal of Plasma Physics. The Infinity Two design is progressing in support of a potential fusion power plant project with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), using Type One Energy stellarator technology.
The Infinity Two design review board, which was chaired by Type One Energy Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Thomas Sunn Pedersen, included several outside experts, including Dr. George H. “Hutch” Neilson from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Dr. Paolo Ferroni from the Westinghouse Electric Company, to provide independent assessments of the engineering work performed by Type One Energy.
“It is the first serious fusion power plant design that I’ve seen,” said Dr. Neilson. “The work they’ve done to date provides a sound foundation for continued design development of what could be the first system to produce net electricity from fusion.”
Dr. Ferroni, the Chief Engineer for Advanced Reactors – GenIV/Fusion at Westinghouse Electric Company, added “I think it is important that the Type One Energy team is taking a comprehensive plant-level approach to develop their technology which includes a description of all necessary systems, not just the plasma core.”
Successful completion of the initial design review confirms that the Infinity Two technology approach, architecture, performance, and reliability requirements remain aligned with the expectations of TVA and the broader global energy market for a commercially viable First of a Kind (FOAK) fusion power plant.
The Type One Energy Infinity Two fusion power plant is being designed to put a nominal 350MW on the electricity grid. This design is based on the company’s stellarator fusion physics basis, which for the first time realistically considered, in a comprehensive and unified manner, the complex relationship between competing requirements for plasma performance, power plant startup, construction logistics, reliability, and economics utilizing actual power plant operating experience.
The Infinity Two architecture is grounded in stellarator fusion technology. This technology has, uniquely within the fusion industry, demonstrated stable, continuous steady-state operation at large scale by the W7-X machine. By properly architecting Infinity Two, Type One Energy is creating a proprietary fusion power plant design that supports a compelling 2-year power plant operating cycle separated by 30-day planned maintenance outages using today’s existing materials and enabling technologies.
Atkins-Realis assisted in developing the design of those Infinity Two systems and structures not part of Type One Energy’s core focus on the stellarator fusion technology.
“Our ability to efficiently architect the initial Infinity Two design in an efficient, partner rich manner reaffirms our commitment to pursuing the lowest risk, shortest schedule, path to a commercially viable fusion power plant,” said Christofer Mowry, Chief Executive Officer for Type One Energy.
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General Fusion Seeks New Investors While Laying Off 25% of Its Employees
A fusion energy company backed by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos has run into financial headwinds according to the CEO of General Fusion. Greg Twinny told wire services he is seeking new investors to get the company back on track
According to a report in the Toronto, Ontario, Globe & Mail, the firm laid off 25% of its 140 employees. The firm’s CEO told the newspaper General Fusion needs a new infusion of $125 million to keep going. He added: “We are ready to execute our plan but are caught in an economic and geopolitical environment that is forcing us to wait.”
Twinney called out the “rapidly shifting and uncertain political and market climate” as a key source for its troubles. He did not provide additional details. The company has raised a total of $340 million since it began operations.
According to the newspaper, General Fusion switched the technologies used in its fusion device, downsized its planned initiatives, and missed performance targets. The firm also changed the design of its fusion device to make it smaller, and cheaper, than initially developed.
According to GeekWire, a Seattle, WA, newsletter that covers technology based startups, there is continued momentum for fusion efforts in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to General Fusion, the area is home to Avalanche Energy, Zap Energy, Helion Energy, Kyoto Fusioneering, Altrusion and ExoFusion.
Seattle startup Avalanche has shared plans for a first-of-its-kind facility for commercial-scale testing of radioactive fusion technologies in Eastern Washington.
In January, Helion announced a $425 million funding, bringing its total raised to more than $1 billion to date. The Everett, Wash.-based company is working to create fusion energy by 2028.
Zap, located just minutes from Helion, disclosed $130 million in funding last July, bringing its total investments to $330 million.
Despite the setbacks, Twinney is optimistic.
“Everything is in place — the technology, science, LM26, and the know-how and passion,” he said.
“All we need now is the capital to finish the job. We are opening our doors and actively seeking strategic options with investors, buyers, governments, and others who share our vision.”
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