TerraPower, a nuclear innovation organization, and PacifiCorp, a regulated utility, declared today their undertaking of a joint study to assess the possibility of deploying up to five extra Natrium reactor and integrated energy storage systems in the PacifiCorp service territory by 2035.
PacifiCorp and TerraPower declared last year their plans to bring the Natrium demonstration plant to Kemmerer, Wyoming, where a PacifiCorp coal-fueled power plant is scheduled for retirement. The organizations’ combined commitment to giving carbon-free energy solutions, while keeping up with grid reliability and incorporating baseload power that can support intermittent energy resources, make the Natrium technology ideal for sending across PacifiCorp’s system.
“This joint study is a significant step toward building the energy grid of the future for PacifiCorp’s customers and a tangible example of the promise advanced nuclear brings to utilities serious about leading the nation’s energy transition,” said TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque. “We have been impressed and humbled by our work with the Kemmerer community and PacifiCorp. We look forward to evaluating new potential sites for Natrium plants that have the same energy expertise and capabilities as our demonstration site.”
“The study will allow us to explore a carbon-free, dispatchable energy resource that could provide reliable power to our customers,” said Gary Hoogeveen, president and CEO of Rocky Mountain Power, a division of PacifiCorp. “This is just a first step, as advanced nuclear power needs to be evaluated through our resource planning processes as well as receive regulatory approval. But it’s an exciting opportunity that advances us down the path to a net zero energy future.”
By cooperating on the Natrium demonstration plant and mutually studying the attainability of amounting to five extra commercial units by 2035, TerraPower and PacifiCorp try to distinguish chances to diminish cost for PacifiCorp’s customers and all the more comprehensively deploy advanced Natrium reactors.
The joint study will evaluate, in addition to other things, the potential for advanced reactors to be situated close to current fossil-fueled generation sites, empowering PacifiCorp to reuse existing generation and transmission resources to support its clients. The location of future Natrium plants will be completely investigated through this study process, and the two organizations will engage with local communities before any last sites are selected.
Congress and the Department of Energy under the Biden Administration have found a way proactive ways to keep on supporting the deployment of advanced nuclear technologies as part of a suite of solutions pointed toward accomplishing carbon-free goals. With the section of the Inflation Reduction Act, the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and recent studies on the chances of a coal-to-nuclear energy transition, the role for advanced nuclear is clear. TerraPower and PacifiCorp stay focused on offering the Natrium technology to market and giving dependability and security to the grid as well as to energy producing communities.
