CERAWEEK: Energy, tech, policy, experts justify need for nuclear capacity surge

The need to boost nuclear generation capacity to meet surging global power demand -- and the benefits of cultivating the related skills and supply chains -- drew intense interest at the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference in Houston.

Allseas, Amazon, Dow, Google, Occidental and OSGE were the initial entities from 31 countries who signed a pledge to triple nuclear capacity by 2050, the World Nuclear Association said March 12. In January, the WNA reported the world had 440 operating nuclear reactors with a combined capacity of almost 399 GW.

Needed for carbon-free energy

Google is aiming to operate on "24/7 carbon-free energy around the globe at all of our data centers and offices," Lucy Tian, Google's head of clean energy and decarbonization technologies, said.

"What we've realized is that to achieve that goal, we need a whole portfolio of technologies," Tian said. "Google has long been one of the largest nonutility purchasers of power from renewable technologies like wind and solar, but our own optimization's modeling shows that actually, if you want to achieve 24/7 carbon-free energy, you need a whole range of technologies that include clean firm resources like nuclear to decarbonize the grid and have affordable, clean and reliable power."

Dow, a leading materials science and chemical company, said at the conference it is making headway on its project with X-Energy Reactor Company to install an X-Energy 320-MW small modular reactor at Dow's 4,700-acre UCC Seadrift site that produces plastics and specialty chemicals.

"We're very close to submitting the construction permit authorization application for that facility, which will happen here shortly," Edward Stones, Dow business vice president for energy and climate, said.

The plans for the reactor were originally announced in May 2023.

"Part of our project in our message to X-Energy from the very start is we have a drop-dead date by which we need to supply steam and power to our site," Stones said. "It's not like a power plant on a grid, where if it doesn't come on time at a certain date, somebody else provides the power. If it doesn't come online at that time, we don't have operating facilities."

"One thing that Dow brings that's maybe unique is we build multibillion-dollar projects about every five or so years as part of our approach to serving our customers," Stones said, which entails "project execution discipline."

A Texas 'bidding war'

Shortly before the WNA's March 12 announcement, Texas leaders and academics discussed efforts to use nuclear power to meet the state's power demand, forecast to almost double to 150 GW by 2030.

Texas lawmakers are working on two bills that former Public Utility Commission of Texas member Jimmy Glotfelty said he hoped would become "a bidding war" over how much the state could incentivize nuclear development in the state.

House Bill 14, sponsored by Representative Cody Harris, a Republican from Palestine, Texas, relates to implementing recommendations of a report produced by Glotfelty's Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group. Recommendations included providing subsidized financing similar to the Texas Energy Fund, which is in the process of providing financing for up to 10 GW of dispatchable generation, mainly fueled by natural gas.

"It creates three buckets of money," Glotfelty said in an interview with Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights. "It creates one for work force development, another for supply chain, another for early development costs, especially siting. It also includes a completion bonus, such as the Texas Energy Fund provides."

The other relevant bill is Senate Bill 14, which would create a dispatchable energy credit system, providing twice as many energy credits for nuclear power generated as would be received for gas-fired power, Glotfelty said.

"How do I predict the end?" Glotfelty said. "I'll tell you what I hope. I hope we get in a bidding war between the House and the Senate. The House started with $2 billion. I hope the Senate helps them and it goes to $3 billion, and then we see where it is in the middle."

Such largesse is possible because Texas oil and gas sector has created a $25 billion budget surplus, Glotfelty said.

Impact beyond state lines

That effort could have effects far beyond Texas' borders, Dale Klein, a University of Texas mechanical engineering professor and former US Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman, said.

"When you look, for example, at the supply chain and manufacturing, there's a whole lot in the nuclear industry other than just the site for the reactors," Klein said. "The governor has said many times, Texas is open for business. So, they've been very proactive in recruiting companies coming to Texas. And I think that will really be an advantage as we start looking at this manufacturing supply chain because we want to help industry succeed."

Michael Pickens, Commodity Insights associate director for North American power, said Texas is "well suited for this ambitious goal."

"It has rapidly rising demand that needs all of the energy resources, and you have the state and policy support to make that happen," Pickens said. "So, we'll find out how it turns out."