Duke Energy, the North Carolina-based utility giant headquartered in Charlotte, announced multiple collaborations this month aimed at accelerating advanced nuclear technology deployment.
The company is teaming up with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in pursuit of a US Department of Energy (DOE) grant to accelerate the exploration of new nuclear technologies; and, according to a press release, they’ve entered a partnership with GE Hitachi to invest in advancing the standard design and licensing for GE Hitachi’s BWRX-300 Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technology.
Duke says the initiatives are key to ensuring nuclear remains core to its strategy for delivering reliable, affordable power to its customers in North Carolina and beyond.
“Our participation in this grant reflects our commitment to nuclear energy’s role in our long-term ‘all of the above’ generation strategy by supporting the rigorous evaluation of future technologies, such as small modular reactors,” said Harry Sideris, the company’s president. “Public-private partnerships such as this accelerate technology development and increase our access to industry learnings and best practices, so we can deliver the best value for our customers, communities and investors.”
Sideris is set to become the company’s CEO in April.
SMR grant
The joint effort — made in conjunction with TVA, American Electric Power Co. Inc., Indiana Michigan Power Co., Bechtel Global Corp., BWX Technologies Inc., Electric Power Research Institute Inc., Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and other utilities and advanced nuclear developers — targets an $800 million US Gen III+ SMR technology grant to fund construction of what may be the first utility-scale SMR in the nation, using the aforementioned BWRX-300 design.
The company says, through this grant, they will be a participant in a proposed US coalition on SMRs focused on assessing risks and fostering heavy manufacturing and supply chain capabilities that could result in cost reductions and further collaborations on future deployments of the new technology.
Duke’s plans in the Carolinas include a target of 300 MW of new nuclear by 2034 and a total of 600 MW by 2035.
While new, efforts to break the seal on advanced SMR technology have grown exponentially over the last year. Energy demand continues to climb with economic growth and the expansion of power-hungry industries like data centers and the proliferation of electric vehicle sales.
Some big technology companies have even reported targeted partnerships with energy utilities to provision nuclear power dedicated to servicing their data centers.
This grant would help accelerate construction of an SMR at the TVA’s Clinch River Nuclear site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, by a couple years (2029), and in turn help accelerate Duke Energy’s own plans for additional nuclear deployment in the Carolinas and Florida.
In collaborating with another partner, Indiana Michigan Power, Duke says the efforts could help reduce costs to create a standard technology design and license for the BWRX-300.
Meeting energy demand and legislative mandates
Congress established the DOE SMR grant program in 2024 to support advanced nuclear deployment and nuclear technology supply chains, offering up to $900 million in grants in total.
For Duke, which also labors under the strictures of a statutory “Carbon Plan” that requires more low-to-no-emission energy generation sources to meet its 2050 carbon neutrality target while also satisfying rapidly growing demand, the collaboration synergies could help close the gap.
Jon Sanders, Director of the Center for Food, Power, and Life and Research Editor at the John Locke Foundation, told Carolina Journal, that, just like Big Tech, North Carolina families and businesses will also need access to reliable generation capable of meeting our growing energy needs.
“Especially as long as North Carolina imposes the Carbon Plan with its demand for ‘carbon neutral’ electricity generation by 2050, new nuclear generation is imperative to maintain reliable power and keep rate increases from getting out of hand,” said Sanders. “New nuclear would keep Duke from having to overbuild intermittent resources like solar and wind and construct thousands of miles of new transmission infrastructure, not to mention preserve millions of acres across the state for other productive uses. Nuclear is the only zero-emissions resource capable of baseload power provision, and it requires the smallest land footprint of any source to produce it.”
About 20% of North Carolina’s energy mix comes from nuclear; but that number used to be much closer to one-third. With the advent of “clean energy” policies, alternatives like solar have increased substantially since the 2010s and natural gas has assumed the dominant role as coal plants have been retired. Add nation-leading growth in the Tar Heel State, and suddenly meeting demand with consistent charge becomes more difficult.
But, as Sanders notes, speeding up the deployment of new nuclear technologies will work to satisfy rising energy demands with reliable power while also reducing emissions.
For more on “going nuclear” to achieve reliable power while keeping costs under control check out Sander’s latest analysis here.