Appalachian Power (AP) has announced plans to develop a small modular reactor (SMR) in the Virginian market.
The company has identified a potential site for an SMR project on company-owned Joshua Falls property in Campbell County, Virginia. The site has access to electrical generation and transmission infrastructure, including a 765kV substation.
AP is preparing to begin the early site permit application process.
“SMR technology is a key component to providing perfect power to our customers. Appalachian Power and AEP are committed to working with our states to develop energy solutions that align with state policy goals and reliably serve our customers,” said Bill Fehrman, AEP president and chief executive officer.
The company plans to apply for project approval with the Virginia State Corporation Commission in the spring of 2025.
Additionally, it has signaled its intent to apply for part of the US Department of Energy’s $900 million grant program to accelerate the deployment of SMRs. The program, launched in October, aims to support the private sector in establishing a pathway to deploying a fleet of Gen III+ SMRs nationwide.
A community open house will be held on December 5, 2024, from 5 to 7pm at the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance. Experts and company representatives will be available to answer questions about the project.
Demand for power in the Virginian market is only expected to grow. In its latest Integrated Resource Plan, Dominion Energy Virginia projected a more than 100 percent increase in electricity usage in the next 15 years, driven primarily by forecasted data center load growth across the state. As of July 2024, Dominion's data center demand was over 21GW, compared to around 16GW as of July 2023.
As a result, Dominion, like many other US utilities, has adopted an “all of the above” approach to generation. Subsequently, there has been a renewed interest in the SMR sector driven primarily by data center firms.
"Advanced nuclear power is at the heart of Virginia's all-American, all of the above energy plan," said Governor Glenn Youngkin.
In October, AWS signed a spate of agreements across the US for SMR deployments across its operations. This included a deal with Energy Northwest, a consortium of state public utilities that will enable the development of four advanced SMRs.
Only a few days before the AWS announcement, Google reported that it had signed a corporate agreement to purchase nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors (SMRs) from Kairos Power.
Last week, SMR and nuclear fuel recycling company Oklo partnered with two undisclosed data center providers to deliver up to 750MW of power. This follows previous agreements with Equinix and Prometheus for 500MW and 100MW of nuclear power, respectively.
