$20B Nuclear Bet, $1B Fusion Boost, & Solar Grid Wars
1.) Ontario Power Generation’s planned first small 300 MW modular reactor in Canada has an official cost of $7.7-billion Canadian (US $5.5 bn), with $6.1 bn for the GE Hitachi BWRX-300 reactor and an additional $1.6-billion on related infrastructure such as admin buildings and cooling water tunnels that would eventually support three additional BWRX-300s at a later date. The entire project price tag comes to an estimated $20.9-billion.
2.) Modular nuclear company NuScale Power says it is in advanced discussions with several possible customers for its reactors and could deliver an operating power plant in 2030 if they can get a deal signed soon. NuScale says its manufacturing partner Doosan currently has 12 NuScale modules in production.
3.) Fusion start-up Commonwealth Fusion Systems has raised another $1+ billion, with the recent investment led by an unnamed hyperscale data center developer. Commonwealth plans to build its first functioning 400MW fusion reactor within a decade, and last year indicated plans for a grid-scale fusion plant in Virginia by the early 2030s.
4.) Reuters reports U.S. energy security officials found rogue communication devices embedded in Chinese-made inverters as well as batteries, including cellular radios. Unauthorized communications allow adversaries to remotely switch off inverters or change settings, potentially destabilizing grids and resulting in blackouts.
5.) Community solar developer Nexamp plans to develop about 100 new projects across the U.S. for Microsoft across five ISOs to help meet its commitment to be carbon-negative by 2030.
6.) Nexamp says it also inked a deal with Chipotle Mexican Grill for RECs supporting development and operation of 15 new community solar farms generating 75 MW in Illinois, New York, Maryland and Maine.
7.) Abundance Energy, sonnen, and Energywell are collaborating on a Texas virtual power plant combining on-premise solar power, batteries, and advanced energy software. The VPP will focus largely on the greater Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas, offering each residence two 4.8kW/20kWh sonnenCore+20 battery units, and will total 60 MWh, with plans for continued expansion.
8.) SunRun says it has expanded participation in California’s Demand Side Grid Support initiative. It’s aggregating power in its CalReady program from over 56,000 homes with solar-plus-storage systems to support the grid between 4 and 9 p.m., from May through October. Sunrun’s expects output of 250 MW per event in 2025, with the potential to peak at 375 MW.