AEP, Amazon and X-energy explore 960-MW Indiana nuclear project

American Electric Power, Amazon and X-energy are exploring a 960-megawatt advanced nuclear project at the former Breed Generating Station coal site in Sullivan County, Indiana, the companies said Monday.

If the project is built and enters commercial operation, Amazon would buy the power under a long-term contract that covers the facility's cost and operations, the companies said. They described the effort as exploring development rather than a commitment to build and did not disclose a price, contract length, ownership split, capital cost or schedule.

The project would use 12 of X-energy's Xe-100 small modular reactors, each rated at 80 megawatts. That configuration produces the 960-megawatt total.

Breed was an Indiana Michigan Power generating station, and Indiana Michigan Power is an AEP utility. Sullivan County participates in the Indiana Advanced Nuclear Ready Communities Program, which the Indiana Office of Energy Development administers and which identifies communities that have taken "measurable steps" to welcome advanced nuclear development. Gov. Mike Braun said the project could strengthen the state's grid and "position Indiana as a national leader in advanced nuclear energy."

Indiana regulators approved large-load interconnection rules last year, accepting a pact offered by Indiana Michigan Power, Amazon Data Services, Google, Microsoft and other parties. In that decision, the utility projected Indiana peak load would climb to more than 7,000 megawatts by 2030 from 2,800 megawatts.

Bill Fehrman, AEP's chairman, president and chief executive, said the agreements with Amazon and X-energy provide "all necessary capital protections and financial safeguards that we have said are essential for any potential nuclear project to move forward."

Utility Dive reported the Indiana plan as Amazon's second nuclear announcement in as many weeks. On Sept. 30, the company announced a 20-year, 690-megawatt power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy to expand and improve the Calvert Cliffs plant in Maryland. Josh Weissman, Amazon's vice president of data center infrastructure capacity delivery, said the company is working toward net-zero carbon across its operations by 2040 and is "looking to develop nearly a gigawatt of carbon-free power for the regional grid and pay our full costs without passing them to others."