Amazon to fund 960-MW nuclear project at retired Indiana coal site
What's the deal? Amazon, X-energy, and American Electric Power (AEP) have signed an agreement to explore building 12 small modular reactors (SMRs) at a former coal plant in Indiana. The project targets 960 megawatts of carbon-free power for the regional grid and Amazon's data centers.
The structure: Amazon is funding project development and would be the plant's first customer under a long-term power contract. That demand commitment is a critical backstop for a capital-intensive build with no disclosed cost or timeline.
The product: The plan calls for 12 of X-energy's Xe-100 reactors, each an 80-MW high-temperature gas-cooled unit using helium coolant and TRISO fuel. The design is built so reactor physics prevent a meltdown without active systems, and it can run with air- or water-cooling to suit the site. The Xe-100 has not yet been deployed commercially.
Why now? Electricity demand is climbing on electrification, manufacturing, and AI. Amazon frames advanced nuclear as a way to secure round-the-clock power that can be built near where it's needed.
What's the endgame? This is the second project under Amazon and X-energy's push to add more than 5 GW of US nuclear capacity by 2039, after the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility in Washington state. Amazon anchored X-energy's 2024 financing round to help complete the reactor's design and fuel facility.
What could go wrong? This remains a feasibility and development agreement, not a construction decision. With no cost estimate, no schedule, and an untested commercial design, the 12 reactors are far from certain.
The companies estimate the project could create more than 1,000 construction jobs and over 100 permanent roles. Amazon says its carbon-free energy projects contribute $11 billion to US GDP and support nearly 22,000 jobs, per an Oxford EconomicsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → study.
The signal: The significance is less that a dozen reactors are imminent and more that a major utility and a hyperscaler are trying to turn SMR plans into a grid-scale project — while reusing a retired coal site to do it.
Read more: aboutamazon.com, Bloomberg, TechCrunch
