US nuclear energy company Blue Energy and GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) have signed an agreement to advance work on a 2.5GW gas-plus-nuclear power plant in Victoria, Texas, which is slated to power a nearby data center.

The companies said they had agreed to advance engineering design, licensing, and safety analysis for the hybrid power plant. The project will combine GE Vernova 7HA.02 gas turbines with GVH's BWRX-300 small modular reactors (SMRs). The project is dependent on a final investment decision, expected sometime in 2027.

Blue Energy said it intends to supply around 1GW to the undisclosed data center in 2030 through two gas turbines, followed by up to 1.5GW from as many as five BWRX-300 SMRs starting in 2032.

The BWRX-300 is a 300MW boiling water reactor and forms the basis of Blue Energy’s deployment strategy. The company describes its approach, which it calls the "Blue Way," as a vertically integrated model covering prefabrication, transportation, and assembly of nuclear plants. The first SMR unit is currently under construction at Ontario Power Generation's Darlington site in Canada, targeted for completion by the end of the decade.

Unlike most other advanced nuclear firms, Blue Energy is not a reactor manufacturer. Instead, the company focuses on designing modular nuclear power plants, which are manufactured off-site at shipyards and then transported to the site.

"This agreement with GE Vernova Hitachi keeps Blue Energy confidently moving forward to build our nuclear energy production line that will unlock the promise of abundant nuclear energy," said Jake Jurewicz, Blue Energy CEO and co-founder.

"We are shifting from the old way of building large reactor nuclear power to instead do it the 'Blue Way' that slashes costs and time to power and finally makes nuclear a financeable, repeatable product."

Eric Gray, CEO of GE Vernova's Power segment, said the deal pairs the company's HA-class gas turbine technology with GVH's SMR technology. "Meeting the surging demand for electricity requires proven, scalable technologies and the ability to bring them together as integrated solutions," he said. "Together, we are establishing a blueprint for deploying reliable baseload power at the scale and speed customers need."

The power plant is expected to supply up to 1.5GW of power to a data center being developed by Crusoe. Crusoe inked a deal with Blue Energy back in October, with the campus set to be sited in the Port of Victoria.

At the time, Blue Energy said it would deliver power to the planned 1,600-acre Crusoe campus as early as 2028. Blue Energy did not disclose further details on the data center development timeline. DCD has reached out for further information.

The agreement was Crusoe’s first with a nuclear power company. It has since partnered with Aalo Atomics on what could be the first SMR-powered data center at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in 2027, as part of a proof-of-concept project.