In a recent announcement, the White House revealed three major energy projects financed with South Korean capital totaling up to $200 billion: a gas-fired power plant in Texas, eight nuclear reactors, and, more conditionally, a gas pipeline in Alaska.

Regarding this agreement, US President Donald Trump, along with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, announced the news on September 30 from the Oval Office, stating: “We are thrilled to announce one of the largest energy infrastructure investments in US history.”

The package is part of the broader $350 billion commitment that Seoul made by 2025 under the bilateral trade agreement that reduced US tariffs on Korean goods from 25 % to 15 %. It also includes $150 billion for shipbuilding and $100 billion in liquefied natural gas purchases.

New plants of liquefied gas and nuclear reactors

Project Star is the most advanced initiative, focused on a 6,472-megawatt natural gas combined-cycle power plant in Encinal, Texas, thanks to a $22.3 billion investment. NextEra Energy is leading the project, in conjunction with Lewis Energy Group for site development, gas supply, and water. It was specifically designed to power data centers and other electricity-intensive facilities, such as semiconductor plants, located adjacent to the plant itself.

They expect the first phase to begin operations in 2029, with full operation in 2032. South Korea will supply the equipment, engineering, and construction, and could extend the use of its turbines to other similar projects in the US.

The second part of the investment corresponds to Project Power, which comprises eight nuclear reactors and the return of nuclear power, through a $120 billion investment. The eight nuclear reactors will be located in states such as Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Kentucky.

“Six would be AP1000 reactors from the American company Westinghouse, and two would use the South Korean APR1400 design, in an agreement signed jointly by both governments, Westinghouse Electric, Korea Electric Power Corp., and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.”

The third project, called Project North, involves the development of the Alaskan liquefied natural gas pipeline, valued between $50 billion and $54 billion, designed to transport gas from the North Slope to the state’s southern coast and export it liquefied to Asian markets. Unlike the other two projects, this one has not yet been finalized, pending confirmation of its commercial viability.

M.Pino

Source: elperiodicodelaenergia                                          

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With an eye toward increasing the capabilities of its artificial intelligence, Meta will use nuclear reactors, according to an announcement at the end of 2024.

Meta intends to boost mobile traffic by building its own submarine fiber optic cable. Regarding the power supply of its AI, it announced that it will join the trend of using nuclear energy. This will pave the way for the “transition to a cleaner, more reliable and diversified electrical grid.”

In this regard, Mark Zuckerberg published “a request for proposals to identify nuclear energy developers” in order to meet its objectives this year. According to the statement, the company is focused on “adding 1-4 GW of new nuclear generating capacity in the United States for delivery beginning in the 2030s. In addition, it believes that nuclear energy can provide firm base energy to meet the growing needs of the electric grids, which power both our data centers and the communities that surround them.”

Meta’s CEO is looking for developers who can accelerate the availability of new nuclear generators and thus create an appropriate scale that allows reducing material costs across multiple units, “both to meet future energy needs and to promote broader decarbonization of the industry.”

M.Pino

Source: 20minutos

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Amazon has unveiled its latest ambition in the energy sector, by partnering with Energy Northwest for the construction of four nuclear reactors, with a capacity of 320 megawatts.

The technology company wants to take this step in order to have its own reactors to power its data centers and reduce its carbon footprint. But also to supply energy to some 200,000 homes at the Columbia Generating Station in Richland.

As part of this initiative, “Amazon will lead a $500 million investment in X-energy, a startup dedicated to the development of small modular nuclear reactors. These reactors are designed to be more efficient and economical than traditional models.”

With this investment, the American company wants to become “a pioneer in the adoption of nuclear energy in the technology sector.” If successful, eight reactors could be added to the project for a total of 960 megawatts, which is equivalent to supplying 700,000 homes.

Amazon wants to be part of the trend in the energy sector of building small modular reactors (SMR) as tools to offer clean energy continuously and efficiently. “Unlike renewable energy sources such as solar or wind, nuclear energy does not depend on weather conditions, which guarantees a constant supply of electricity.”

Given that X-energy does not have the necessary permits from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it is estimated that the first reactors will not be operational until at least 2030.

Amazon’s financial support for nuclear energy is expanding to Virginia, where it is financing the construction of a nuclear plant in collaboration with Dominion Energy. The project is aimed at responding to the energy demand in Virginia, which, according to Dominion Energy, will double in the next 13 years. In this regard, they want to build more reactors at their plant on the North Anna River, which could help meet this growing demand.

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Source: revistamercado

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