Last Energy plans Texan microreactor plant

Friday, 28 February 2025

The company, which said it has obtained site control, plans to build the microreactors on a 200 acre site and will provide power to offtakers via a mix of private wires and grid transmission. Last Energy has already filed for a grid connection with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and, following briefings with local stakeholders, is preparing to file for an Early Site Permit with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Last Energy - a founding member of the Texas Nuclear Alliance, which aims to accelerate nuclear deployment across the state - said its plans are in response to overwhelming demand from Texas-based data centre developers over the last year. Of the company's existing commercial agreements, which entail the delivery of more than 80 microreactors across Europe, half will serve data centres. Last Energy's Texas site would increase the company’s development capacity by another 30 units, and enable the development of a commercial pipeline throughout the USA.

The company said its Northwest Texas project will "play a crucial role in adding capacity to the state's grid and meeting the state's data centre deployment projections. Texas is currently home to over 340 data centres which consume nearly 8 GW of power and make up 9% of all Texas electricity demand. In the Dallas-Fort Worth region alone, data centres are expected to drive an additional 43 GW of demand".

Bret Kugelmass, founder and CEO of Last Energy, said: "Texas is America's undisputed energy leader, but skyrocketing population growth and data centre development is forcing policymakers, customers, and energy providers to embrace new technologies. Nuclear power is the most effective way to meet Texas' demand, but our solution - plug-and-play microreactors, designed for scalability and siting flexibility - is the best way to meet it quickly. Texas is a state that recognises energy is a precondition for prosperity, and Last Energy is excited to contribute to that mission."

The company said that, in addition to developing its site in Texas, it is exploring projects in Utah.

Last Energy's announcement was welcomed by Governor of Texas Greg Abbott. He said: "Texas is the energy capital of America, and we are working to be No. 1 in advanced nuclear power. Last Energy’s microreactor project in Haskell County will help fulfill the state’s growing data centre demand. Texas must become a national leader in advanced nuclear energy. By working together with industry leaders like Last Energy, we will usher in a nuclear power renaissance in the United States."

Last Energy is a spin-off of the Energy Impact Center, a research institute devoted to accelerating the clean energy transition through innovation. Its reactor technology is based on a pressurised water reactor with a capacity of 20 MWe or 80 MWt. Power plant modules would be built off-site and assembled in modules.

A Last Energy plant, referred to as the PWR-20, is comprised of a few dozen modules that, it says, "snap together like a Lego kit". The PWR-20 is designed to be fabricated, transported, and assembled within 24 months, and is sized to serve private industrial customers. Under its development model, Last Energy owns and operates its plug-and-play power plant on the customer's site, bypassing the decade-long development timelines of electric transmission grid upgrade requirements.

Earlier this month, Last Energy formally entered the UK's nuclear site licensing process for its plans to develop four 20 MWe microreactors at the site of the decommissioned Llynfi coal-fired power station in Bridgend County, south Wales. It aims to deliver its first microreactor in Wales in 2027, pending the licensing, permitting, and planning processes.