GE Vernova and nuclear startup company Blue Energy have agreed to work together to bring a 2,500-megawatt gas and nuclear power plant to Texas.
Blue Energy, founded in 2023, said in its Tuesday press release the gas and nuclear hybrid power plant could be a new near-term approach to help meet projected growing energy demands driven by artificial intelligence and manufacturing. The company plans for this power plant to power a nearby data center campus.
The collaboration will combine Blue Energy’s project financing and nuclear construction with GE Vernova’s reactor technology and turbines. The two companies plan to design and use GE Vernova’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at Blue Energy’s planned site in Texas, subject to a final investment decision in 2027, according to the release.
A BWRX-300 SMR is a boiling water reactor with a generating capacity of 300 megawatts.
To move the project forward sooner, the companies signed a slot reservation agreement for site delivery in 2029 for two GE Vernova 7HA.02 gas turbines to power the site early on. Early site preparation could begin as early as this year, Blue Energy said, to support a final investment decision timeline of 2027.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved Blue Energy’s approach to rearranging major phases of nuclear plant construction that supports large module and gas-to-nuclear delivery schedules in January.
Blue Energy said it will apply to the NRC in 2027 for a construction permit, while GE Vernova’s gas turbines are expected to provide around 1,000 megawatts of power to the site as early as 2030, according to the release. This would be before the steam supply is switched and boosted to around 1,500 megawatts of nuclear power as BWRX-300s come online as early as 2032.
Natural gas has been seen as a viable placeholder power source until the nuclear-powered reactor is up and running. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management Tim Walsh said during the Waste Management Symposia, held in Phoenix from March 8-12, that natural gas will be the initial power source for certain data centers inside the DOE nuclear complex.