Doosan Enerbility is concentrating its efforts on preoccupying the nascent small module reactor (SMR) market. It has decided to invest in X-Energy, a U.S. SMR technology developer, following its investment in NuScale Power, another U.S. SMR technology pioneer.
Doosan Enerbility announced on Jan. 18 that it has signed an agreement with X-Energy on equity investment and supply of key SMR equipment. Its investment amounted to US$5 million.
“Our cooperative relationship with X-Energy has continued since we were awarded a contract to design the main SMR equipment in September 2019,” a Doosan Enability official said. “The agreement on equity investment and equipment supply is an extension of the cooperative relationship.”
X-Energy is developing a fourth-generation high-temperature gas-fired SMR, which consists of four 80MW reactor modules. Its total generation capacity stands at 320 MW.
The SMR can run at a high temperature using helium instead of water as a coolant. It uses nuclear fuel that does not melt even at 1,800℃ due to its triple coating. The high heat of about 600℃ produced during operation is used as a heat source for industrial plants, and has the advantage of securing various sources of demand in addition to power supply.
Previously, Doosan Enerbility invested US$44 million in NuScale Power in 2019. In 2021, it invested an additional US$60 million in NuScale Power to solidify its cooperative relationship with the company.
