Nuclear technology company X-energy announced that it has raised $700 million in a Series D financing round, with proceeds aimed at helping the company expand its supply chain and commercial pipeline, as it scales up to deploy advanced small modular reactors for companies including Amazon, Dow and Centrica.
The new funding round was led by trading firm Jane Street, and included participation from new investors ARK Invest, Galvanize, Hood River Capital Management, Point72, Reaves Asset Management, XTX Ventures, as well as ARK Invest, Galvanize, Hood River Capital Management, Point72, Reaves Asset Management, XTX Ventures.
The new round follows an earlier $700 million Series C financing round completed by X-energy earlier this year, led by Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, alongside an agreement with Amazon to bring more than 5 GW of projects online across the U.S. by 2039.
Kam Ghaffarian, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Chairman of X-energy, said:
“When I founded X-energy, I envisioned a company that could redefine how to make advanced nuclear energy accessible, affordable, and essential to an energy abundant future. With the support of our investors, both new and existing, we are closer to realizing that vision.”
Founded in 2009, Rockville, Maryland-based X-Energy is a developer of nuclear reactor and fuel technology. The company’s TRISO-X fuel seals uranium particles in a protective coating, which can withstand high temperatures without melting, making it highly resistant to fuel failure and release of radioactive materials, eliminating the need for massive containment facilities. The company’s SMR reactor, Xe-100 is a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor operates at temperatures higher than 750°C, and contains more than 200,000 TRISO-X-based fuel pebbles, which are gravity-fed in continuous rotation through the core, allowing the reactor to run without fuel interruption for 60 years. Helium is circulated through the core, absorbing immense heat, and is used to boil water into steam to turn a turbine for the production of carbon-free energy.
The company said that the new financing comes as it has already built an orderbook of more than 11 GW, representing approximately 144 advanced small modular reactors. X-energy’s initial proposed four-unit Xe-100 plant is planned for Dow’s Inc.’s UCC Seadrift chemical manufacturing site on the Texas Gulf Coast, supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. In addition to its 5 GW partnership with Amazon, X-energy is partnered with British multinational energy and services company Centrica to deploy 6 GW in the UK.
X-energy CEO J. Clay Sell, said:
“We are highly focused on building a world-class project and technology delivery platform to accelerate the commercialization of our Xe-100 reactor and TRISO-X fuel. The success of this financing round allows us to deepen partnerships with critical deployment partners and invest in a robust and reliable supply chain to successfully deliver projects with our customers.”
