Energy Northwest, a consortium of 29 public utility districts and municipalities across Washington state in the US, has picked a team to plan, design and build the first four of 12 planned small modular reactors (SMRs). The project will be sited near its existing Columbia Generating Station in Richland.
The announcement came a week after Energy Northwest announced that the project would be called Cascade Advanced Energy Facility. Construction is expected to begin by the end of the decade, with operations targeted for the 2030s.
Energy Northwest said it is in negotiations with Cascade Nuclear Partners (CNP), an equal joint venture comprising Kiewit Nuclear Solutions, Black & Veatch and Aecon, to collaboratively complete the planning, design, and construction of the first four SMRs under a progressive design-build model. This phase will help define the project’s scope, schedule, and cost parameters before advancing to full execution.
In October 2024, Energy Northwest announced a multi-year agreement with Amazon focused on comprehensive environmental, safety, permitting, licensing and risk analyses for the project. The SMRs will be Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. Each Xe-100 module can provide 80 MWe of full-time electricity using tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel. X-Energy announced a Series C-1 financing round of approximately $500m, anchored by Amazon. The investment was intended to fund completion of X-energy’s reactor design and licensing.
Amazon undertook to fund the initial feasibility phase and will have the right to purchase electricity from the first phase of the project while additional power from further expansion will be available to Amazon and northwest utilities to power homes and businesses.
“Selecting Cascade Nuclear Partners is a strategic milestone for this project, one that reflects our continued momentum for this project,” said Bob Schuetz, Energy Northwest CEO. “Their specialised knowledge in nuclear construction, collaborative approach, and strong alignment with Energy Northwest’s values gives us confidence in their ability to help deliver this critical project successfully.”
Mike Rinehart, president of Kiewit Nuclear Solutions noted: “Kiewit is very pleased to be part of Cascade Nuclear Partners and to support Energy Northwest in advancing this first-of-a-kind small modular reactor project…. By combining our proven experience with strong collaboration, our team is focused on delivering a project that sets a new standard for nuclear energy infrastructure. Together with our partners, we’re committed to helping provide reliable, carbon-free power that will benefit the Pacific Northwest for decades to come.”
Todd Edsall, President of Black & Veatch Power Providers said: “We have more than 60 years of experience in nuclear engineering and a heritage of innovation in delivering complex projects…. This milestone reflects our continued commitment to advancing resilient infrastructure and supporting the next generation of carbon-free power solutions.”
Aecon Group President & CEO Jean-Louis Servranckx said the Energy Northwest SMR development project “is an exciting undertaking, and we are pleased to expand our role in delivering the next generation of nuclear plants through one of the first SMR projects in the United States.”
Aecon is already working with Energy Northwest on the moisture separator reheater replacement at its Columbia Generating Station. It is also working on the three largest nuclear refurbishments in North America and leads a construction partnership with Kiewit on North America’s first grid-scale SMR at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington Nuclear Power Project in Canada.
