Google and Kairos Power team up for SMR deployments

Tuesday, 15 October 2024

The Master Plant Development Agreement signed by the two companies will see Kairos Power develop, construct, and operate a series of advanced reactor plants and sell energy, ancillary services, and environmental attributes to Google under power purchase agreements (PPAs). Plants will be sited in "relevant service territories to supply clean electricity to Google data centres", with the first deployment by 2030 to support Google’s 24/7 carbon-free energy and net zero goals.

This the first corporate agreement for multiple deployments of a single advanced reactor design in the USA, the companies said.

Kairos has adopted a rapid iterative development approach and vertical integration strategy to bring its fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor technology to market. Site work and excavation for a low-power demonstration reactor version, Hermes, began at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, earlier this year after the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a construction permit in 2023, targeted to be operational by 2027. The NRC has also completed the final environmental assessment for the construction of the next iteration - the two-unit power-producing Hermes 2 plant - which is also planned to be built at Oak Ridge.

Kairos said the innovative, multi-plant agreement with Google will support technology development by extending Kairos Power’s iterative demonstration strategy through its first commercial deployments: "Building on progress from the early iterations, each new plant will enable continued learning and optimisation to support accelerated commercialisation. Along the way, milestone-based accountability baked into the agreement will establish confidence in Kairos Power's ability to deliver throughout the long-term partnership."

"Our partnership with Google will enable Kairos Power to quickly advance down the learning curve as we drive toward cost and schedule certainty for our commercial product," Mike Laufer, Kairos Power CEO and co-founder, said. "By coming alongside in the development phase, Google is more than just a customer. They are a partner who deeply understands our innovative approach and the potential it can deliver."

Google is aiming to achieve net-zero emissions across all of its operations and value chain by 2030. Earlier this year, Google - together with Microsoft and steel manufacturer Nucor - announced plans to develop new business models and aggregate their demand for advanced clean electricity technologies, including advanced nuclear, and issued a Request for Information to identify specific projects to engage with.

The additional generation that will be developed under the multi-plant agreement with Kairos will complement its existing use of variable renewables while helping it to reach its 24/7 carbon-free energy and net zero goals, the company said.

"This landmark announcement will accelerate the transition to clean energy as Google and Kairos Power look to add 500 MW of new 24/7 carbon-free power to US electricity grids," Google Senior Director of Energy and Climate Michael Terrell said. "This agreement is a key part of our effort to commercialise and scale the advanced energy technologies we need to reach our net zero and 24/7 carbon-free energy goals and ensure that more communities benefit from clean and affordable power in the future."

Google pioneered the first corporate purchase agreements for renewable electricity more than a decade ago, and since then has played a pivotal role in accelerating clean energy solutions, Terrell said in a blog post. The agreement with Kairos is important because the grid needs new sources of electricity to support AI technologies, and nuclear can help meet those demands reliably with carbon-free energy every hour of every day, he added.

"By procuring electricity from multiple reactors … we will help accelerate the repeated reactor deployments that are needed to lower costs and bring Kairos Power’s technology to market more quickly. This is an important part of our approach to scale the benefits of advanced technologies to more people and communities, and builds on our previous efforts," he said.

"We'll continue working to accelerate a diverse portfolio of advanced clean electricity technologies and bring new 24/7 clean, affordable energy onto every grid where we operate."

Molten salt reactors
 

Molten salt reactors - or MSRs - use molten fluoride salts as primary coolant, at low pressure. Some designs - like Kairos Power's KP-FHR - use solid fuel, while others use fuel salts, in which the nuclear fuel is dissolved in the coolant.

The KP-FHR will use fully ceramic TRISO (tri-structural isotropic) pebble-type fuel. The Hermes and Hermes 2 demonstration plants will feature units with a thermal capacity of 35 MW each. The two 35 MWt units at Hermes 2 are intended to a power a common turbine generator set to produce about 20 MW electric (MWe).

Kairos envisages its commercial KP-FHR offering as dual unit plants, with two 75 MWe units for a total of 150 MWe of power output.

MSRs are one of the four main types of SMR that are currently being developed. SMRs are broadly defined as nuclear reactors with a capacity of up to 300 MWe equivalent, designed with modular technology using module factory fabrication, pursuing economies of series production and short construction times.