This is the second commercial contract between the two companies for nuclear island engineering and design: in April, Fluor entered into a contract with X-energy to support the company's first proposed Xe-100 project at Dow's UCC Seadrift Operations in south Texas under the US Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. The latest agreement builds on Fluor's ongoing work for the Texas project, the companies said, enabling them to incorporate learnings from one project into the next, with the aim of targeting long-term cost and schedule reductions through standardisation and repeatable project execution.
The Cascade facility is expected to deploy four of X-energy's Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, each with a capacity of 80 MWe, for a total capacity of 320 MWe, with the potential to scale to a total of 12 units.
Under the agreement, Fluor will provide engineering, design development, supply chain, estimating and project control services for the nuclear island scope of the Cascade facility. The value of the contract has not been disclosed, but Fluor said it will "recognise" the value in the third quarter.
Cascade Nuclear Partners, a joint venture of Kiewit Nuclear Solutions, Black & Veatch, and Aecon, is responsible for the conventional island and integrating requirements across the plant to support potential future phases of the project.
"Advanced nuclear technologies are poised to play a critical role in meeting growing energy demand while supporting decarbonisation goals," Fluor's Business Group President of Energy Solutions Pierre Bechelany said. "The Cascade Advanced Energy Facility represents an important step forward in the deployment of next-generation nuclear energy. Fluor is proud to bring decades of nuclear expertise and project execution experience to support X-energy and its partners in advancing this innovative project."
The Cascade facility is the first project in a collaboration between X-energy and Amazon launched in 2024, with the goal of deploying 5 GW of new nuclear capacity by 2039: utility American Electric Power and X-energy signed a joint development agreement to evaluate the potential second project, for 960 MWe of capacity at a former coal plant site in Indiana, in October.
Engaging experienced engineering partners and suppliers early in each project’s development cycle helps ensure that components, capabilities and expertise are in place as each project advances, X-energy says, as part of a disciplined approach to building project readiness that positions the company and its partners to commercialise and scale energy solutions.
"The success of our projects begins with working as one team, building on each other's expertise to drive toward scale," said Dragan Popovic, Global Chief Operating Officer at X-energy. "Repeated execution with partners of Fluor's quality helps us build that expertise in real time, so that every lesson we carry forward supports greater efficiency in design, licensing, and construction."
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