The decision comes as the Trump administration pushes hard to develop the next generation of nuclear power, including issuing billions in loans for large nuclear reactors to meet skyrocketing power demand from data centers and a pilot program to boost advanced reactor designs and projects for military and civilian use. No nuclear microreactors are supplying power to the commercial electric grid in the United States today.

Five companies selected by the Army will be awarded up to $2.2 billion over five years to own, construct, and operate the microreactors, provided they meet set performance milestones along the way. The Army expects that more than 20 nuclear microreactors will be built and operated.

Army and industry officials say microreactors offer a resilient power source for critical infrastructure at military installations in case the grid fails. Reactors can run for years without refueling.

The grants are part of the Army’s “Janus Program” launched last year to deliver next-generation nuclear energy. Officials hope to push nuclear development forward so that advanced reactor designs move beyond experiments and prototypes to provide power for years to come. This will be the “spear tip,” said Jeff Waksman, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment.

The reactors will be licensed by the Army, rather than the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which licenses commercial nuclear reactors. The Army is working to align its regulatory processes so that companies won’t need major changes to their designs to be later licensed by the NRC. Along with federal funding, the Army expects billions of dollars in private capital investment.

President Donald Trump signed executive orders in May 2025 to speed up the development of nuclear power. The Army was tasked with ensuring that an advanced reactor would start operating at a domestic military installation no later than Sept. 30, 2028. The Janus program is named for the ancient Roman god of transitions.

The military installations will remain connected to the grid. The reactors would not completely power them. Each reactor will provide between 1 megawatt (MW) and 20 MW of power, depending on the company’s design. Major bases use as much power as a small city. 

Radiant’s Kaleidos reactors

The Army executed a binding agreement totaling up to $750 million dollars to develop and deploy 15 of Radiant’s Kaleidos nuclear microreactors at Fort Benning in Georgia. Radiant’s award is one of the largest contracts ever issued by DIU across its portfolio, and the largest award within the Janus Program.

“The U.S. Army is a savvy customer. They have the world’s top nuclear experts and know what to look for in a partner,” said Tori Shivanandan, president and chief operating officer of Radiant. “The numbers tell the story. This award shows confidence in Radiant’s product and ability to manufacture, deploy, and safely operate nuclear microreactors for the American military. We thank Dr. Waksman and DIU Director Owen West for their leadership. This program will build a stronger and more resilient America while accelerating our operational excellence.”

Radiant argues that the contract will accelerate the deployment of its reactors at scale.

Kaleidos is a 1-MW nuclear microreactor, transportable by land, sea, or air and deployed directly at customer sites. Each reactor provides up to five years of power before refueling and is engineered with a 20-year operating life cycle. The reactor arrives as a sealed, fueled unit that can be plugged in right away. Additional units can be added or relocated as energy requirements evolve. Radiant manages fueling, refueling, and spent-fuel storage at its own facilities, allowing customer sites to return to greenfield condition within two years or less after a unit is removed. Radiant stresses that customer sites never have on-site spent fuel storage.

Radiant’s Kaleidos reactor is undergoing a test campaign at the Idaho National Laboratory DOME facility, which was updated for small modular reactor testing in 2026. Following a selection process, the Department of Energy (DOE) awarded Radiant exclusive access to the facility for a full year. Kaleidos is undergoing the industry’s only full-scale, full-power, extended-duration reactor test.

Beyond reactor development, Radiant is standing up the vertically integrated industrial capability required to manufacture, fuel, deploy, and service its products. Radiant is already under construction on its 300,000-square-foot R-50 manufacturing, fueling, and storage campus in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The company will fuel its own reactors and control each step of production through end-to-end ownership of the supply chain.

Westinghouse eVinci microreactors

Westinghouse’s eVinci microreactors were selected for deployment at Fort Drum in New York. Westinghouse Electric Company recently announced it successfully completed zero-power criticality testing for the eVinci, which the company argues validated the models and core design assumptions of the technology.

“Reliable energy is fundamental to mission assurance, operational readiness and national security,” said Rich Rademacher, president of Westinghouse Government Services. “The selection of the eVinci microreactor for the Janus Project highlights the important role advanced nuclear technology can play in providing resilient, long-duration power to the warfighter. Westinghouse is proud to support the Army’s efforts to strengthen energy security and deliver innovative capabilities.”eVinci microreactors.

The eVinci microreactor combines advanced heat pipe technology, TRISO fuel, graphite core materials, control drum components, and a compact architecture designed to provide energy in “remote and challenging environments,” such as defense applications and space, Westinghouse said.

The eVinci microreactor has few moving parts and operates essentially like a battery, which Westinghouse says provides versatility for power systems ranging from several kilowatts to 5 MW of electricity, delivered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for eight-plus years without refueling. It can also produce high-temperature heat suitable for industrial applications, including alternative fuel production such as hydrogen, and has the flexibility to balance renewable output. The technology is 100% factory-built and assembled before it is shipped in a container to any location.

Westinghouse engineers laud the microreactor’s passive cooling design. There are no pumps to circulate water or gas. The reactor’s heat pipes replace the reactor coolant pump, reactor coolant system, primary coolant chemistry control, and all associated auxiliary systems.

The General Atomics Tactical Energy System (GA‑TES)

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) was selected by the U.S. Army as another industry partner to advance the General Atomics Tactical Energy System (GA‑TES) for future deployment. Under the Janus Program, Fort Hood, Texas, will serve as the installation to advance GA-TES through development, testing, and site-planning milestones toward potential deployment. 

GA‑TES is a liquid-metal-cooled microreactor with a baseline net output of approximately 5 megawatts electric (MWe) and an architecture scalable to approximately 20 MWe. Designed for remote, off-grid, and extreme environments, the plant has a 40-year design life. General Atomics argues that its modular architecture supports transport and deployment by truck or rail, while natural-circulation primary coolant flow eliminates pumps and associated mechanical complexity.

“General Atomics draws on more than 70 years of nuclear innovation and reactor expertise to deliver microreactor technologies that provide safe, dependable and independent power for military installations. Our experience designing and deploying 68 reactors worldwide and supporting reactor technologies throughout their lifecycles positions us to deliver assured energy solutions that enhance operational resilience and strengthen mission readiness,” Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS, said.

The BWXT Advanced Nuclear Reactor (BANR)

BWX Technologies announced its selection to deploy its BWXT Advanced Nuclear Reactor (BANR) technology in support of the Janus program. The Army announced the first BANR will be deployed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, located on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

BWXT will execute the Janus program under a phased contracting approach. The first phase includes working with the Army and DIU on final site selection within Fort Campbell, initiating nuclear regulatory processes with the Army, and initiating TRISO fuel fabrication at existing BWXT facilities. Concurrently, BWXT will work with the customer and potential partners on establishing the operating company structure, characterizing the site, and preparing supply chains for long-lead procurements. BWXT is targeting groundbreaking for site construction in late 2028, with reactor operations commencing in the early 2030s.

“Our long-standing strengths in reactor engineering innovation, TRISO fuel development and advanced nuclear manufacturing are the foundation of our BANR technology,” said Rex D. Geveden, BWXT president and chief executive officer. “As we commence work on the Janus program, we are delivering the nation’s most credible and reliable path to deployable nuclear power. BANR is purpose-built for mission success, and we are driving forward with the discipline, experience, and proven capability that national security demands.”

BANR is a high-temperature, gas-cooled nuclear reactor that utilizes TRISO, or TRi-structural ISOtropic, fuel. BANR is designed for critical infrastructure and can operate behind the meter or integrate with the grid. For Janus, a 20-megawatt electric version of BANR will be deployed.

Antares’ Mark-0 reactor

The U.S. Army and Defense Innovation Unit selected nuclear fission startup Antares to own, construct, and operate nuclear microreactor power at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in support of the Janus Program. Antares microreactors are designed to run safely and autonomously for years without refueling, delivering uninterrupted power

Antares achieved first criticality of its Mark-0 reactor at Idaho National Laboratory on June 4, 2026, becoming the first privately developed non-light-water reactor to reach criticality in the United States in more than four decades and the first to do so under the DOE’s Reactor Pilot Program. The company says the reactor is on track to produce electricity in 2027, with initial production deployments to U.S. military installations beginning in 2028.

Antares recently raised $470 million in Series C funding, co-led by Paradigm and Caffeinated Capital, that will accelerate the company’s path from demonstration to deployment at those installations.

Courtesy: Antares

“On June 4th, we won the race to criticality, and now we’ve shifted to the race to commercialization,” said Jordan Bramble, CEO and co-founder of Antares. “The military has been a partner to us every step of the way. We’ve secured firm contracts to build reactors. To do that, we’re announcing $470M of equity and debt to invest one-to-one with the taxpayer in bringing this technology to commercial scale. Our deep customer relationships and committed orderbook allow us to focus our engineering roadmap on one simple thing from here on out- reactors that operate reliably and safely for 6+ years deployed to military installations as soon as 2028. This focus will guide us to the first microreactor producing useful electricity in a truly commercially viable design.”

This article contains reporting from the Associated Press.

POWERGEN brings together the global power generation community at a defining moment for the industry. With electricity demand rising at a pace not seen in a generation, gas turbine order books stretching years out, data center load reshaping resource plans, and a workforce gap widening across nearly every job family, the decisions being made today will define how reliably the lights stay on for the next two decades. POWERGEN is where the operators, developers and suppliers doing that work come together to share what’s working, what isn’t, and what comes next.

PacifiCorp is one of the largest electric utilities in the Western United States, serving more than 2.1 million customers across six states through its two business units: Pacific Power, which serves Oregon, Washington, and California, and Rocky Mountain Power, which serves Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho from its Salt Lake City headquarters. PacifiCorp owns and operates a diverse generation portfolio that includes natural gas, coal, hydroelectric, solar, geothermal and the largest owned wind fleet of any regulated utility in the Western United States.

“As we look ahead to POWERGEN 2027, we are thrilled to welcome PacifiCorp as our host utility,” said Wayne Bishop Jr., Executive Vice President of Clarion Energy North America at Clarion Events, Inc. “PacifiCorp operates at the intersection of nearly every issue defining our industry today—load growth from data centers and electrification, transmission expansion across the West, fleet transition, and workforce development. Their leadership and their footprint across six states make them an ideal partner as we bring the global power generation community together in Salt Lake City.”

Like utilities across the country, PacifiCorp is balancing rapidly rising power demand with the imperatives of reliability, affordability and a changing generation mix. Through Rocky Mountain Power, the company is on the front lines of one of the fastest-growing load regions in the country, integrating large-scale wind, solar and storage while managing the operational realities of an aging thermal fleet and the buildout of new transmission across the Intermountain West. PacifiCorp’s on-the-ground experience will bring a critical perspective to POWERGEN’s conversations about how the industry builds a more resilient, flexible, and reliable energy future.

“We’re proud to serve as the host utility for POWERGEN 2027 in Salt Lake City,” said Darin Carroll, president and CEO of PacifiCorp. “As our industry works to meet growing demand while maintaining reliability and affordability, this event provides an important opportunity to share ideas and solutions. We’re grateful for Utah’s supportive business and regulatory environment, which helps enable the investments needed to power one of the nation’s fastest-growing regions. We look forward to welcoming industry leaders to Utah and helping shape the future of energy.”

In addition to serving as Host Utility, PacifiCorp executives will take the stage during the POWERGEN 2027 Opening Keynote, joining other industry thought leaders in addressing the challenges and opportunities facing the power sector.

The agreement will see the two organizations collaborate on opportunities to advance maritime energy systems, including assessing the potential integration of SMRs into port infrastructure.

Areas under consideration include resilient port microgrids, shoreside power systems, infrastructure to support emerging vessel propulsion technologies and workforce development.

The MoC marks the second agreement between the Trump administration and a major US port focused on exploring nuclear technologies for maritime applications.

In June, the administration signed an agreement with the Port of Long Beach to establish what it described as the nation’s first testing area for nuclear-powered vessels.

The agreements form part of a broader initiative launched in May to explore the use of SMRs to reduce costs across the US shipping sector and strengthen the resilience of the country’s supply chains.

“Small modular reactors have the potential to reshape America’s maritime sector, lower shipping costs and bolster our supply chains,” said US Transportation Secretary Sean P Duffy.

“I’m thrilled that the Port of Corpus Christi is embracing this exciting partnership with the Trump Administration to ensure the United States leads the way in innovation. Maritime dominance starts with rebuilding America’s fleet with this state-of-the-art technology.”

Energy hub

Established in 1926, the Port of Corpus Christi has grown into the largest energy export gateway in the US and the world’s third-largest crude oil export port.

Its position at the heart of the Gulf Coast’s energy and industrial infrastructure could make the port a significant testbed for emerging nuclear and maritime energy technologies.

US Congressman Michael Cloud said SMRs could eventually support port operations as well as the wider industrial complex, while also enabling new approaches to maritime propulsion.

“Small modular reactor technology has the potential to power port operations, support the broader industrial complex and advance maritime propulsion capabilities in ways that will benefit the entire Gulf Coast and the nation,” Cloud said.

“I appreciate Secretary Duffy’s work in ensuring America continues to lead in energy innovation.”

The agreement also places an emphasis on resilience and skills development. MARAD administrator Stephen Carmel said SMR integration could help reduce costs while strengthening critical maritime supply chains against disruptions ranging from extreme weather to grid outages.

“SMR integration has the potential to drive down costs and guarantee that our critical Gulf Coast maritime supply chains remain resilient against any contingency, from extreme weather to power grid disruptions, while training the next generation of high-skilled American mariners,” Carmel said.

Originally published in Factor This Power Engineering sister publication Enlit World.

The framework identifies NANO Nuclear as Tillman’s anticipated preferred nuclear technology provider and establishes a structure for the parties to collaborate on the evaluation and development of nuclear generation opportunities across Tillman’s growing U.S. data-center pipeline, with an opportunity to also expand to certain international markets. The parties are targeting 2 GW or more of advanced nuclear capacity by the mid-2030s, and 6 GW or more by 2040.

Tillman, a global firm that develops, owns, and scales large-scale digital and energy infrastructure, is advancing a multi-state pipeline of planned AI industrial zones in the U.S. designed to support gigawatt-scale power requirements from anticipated hyperscale and AI tenant customers. As part of its development strategy, Tillman evaluates sites for their ability to accommodate multiple sources of generation and intends to reserve the space to integrate advanced nuclear power as a “medium- to long-term” source of baseload generation.

Under the framework, NANO Nuclear and Tillman intend to collaborate across the nuclear project-development lifecycle, including site evaluation and diligence, licensing and development planning, customer engagement and project deployment.

NANO Nuclear is developing its KRONOS MMR energy system, a 15 MWe high-temperature gas-cooled reactor designed to support modular and phased deployment.

The test was completed in partnership with Los Alamos and Idaho National Laboratories at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC), a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) facility at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), on August 24.

Zero-power criticality means a reactor is able to sustain a stable fission chain reaction at a minimal energy level, at a point where heat generation is negligible. Achieving this state is often seen as a proof of concept for new reactors before scaling up.

Westinghouse posits the milestone as part of its “rapid product development” philosophy, which which combines testing, modeling, simulation and design improvements in an effort to accelerate technology maturation Through integrated prototype testing and demonstrations, Westinghouse will now aim to further validate the performance, operability and manufacturability of the eVinci technology.

“This zero-power criticality milestone reflects Westinghouse’s heritage of innovation and pushing to the next frontier of nuclear,” said Dr. Lou Martinez Sancho, Westinghouse Chief Technology Officer. “We appreciate the support and collaboration of our partners at the U.S. Department of Energy, NNSA, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory and NNSS in achieving this important milestone.”

The eVinci microreactor combines advanced heat pipe technology, TRISO fuel, graphite core materials, control drum components and a compact architecture designed to provide energy in “remote and challenging environments,” such as defense applications and space, Westinghouse said.

The eVinci microreactor has few moving parts, working essentially as a battery, which Westinghouse says provides the versatility for power systems ranging from several kilowatts to 5 MW of electricity, delivered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for eight-plus years without refueling. It can also produce high-temperature heat suitable for industrial applications including alternative fuel production such as hydrogen, and has the flexibility to balance renewable output. The technology is 100% factory-built and assembled before it is shipped in a container to any location.

Westinghouse engineers laud the microreactor’s passive cooling design. There are no pumps to circulate water or gas. The reactor’s heat pipes replace the reactor coolant pump, reactor coolant system, primary coolant chemistry control and all associated auxiliary systems.

Pipes embedded in the core transfer heat from one end to the other, where it is captured in a heat exchanger. For cooling, each heat pipe contains a small amount of sodium liquid as the working fluid to move heat from the core and is fully encapsulated in a sealed pipe.

Because of the passive nature of eVinci, Westinghouse believes it would require only a small number of onsite personnel.

The order covers 76 NovaLT16 industrial gas turbines from energy tech company Baker Hughes, alongside gearboxes and generators powered by the firm’s Brush Power Generation with Automatic Voltage Regulator system. Combined, the equipment represents approximately 1.3GW of generating capacity.

The turbines were booked during the second quarter of 2026, with the associated gearboxes and generators booked in the third quarter.

The equipment will be integrated into Dynamis’ DT17 hypermobile power solution, which combines gas turbine generation with a modular approach designed to provide high power output within a relatively compact footprint.

Market demand

Dynamis chief executive Matt Crawford said: “The market is demanding utility-grade power solutions that deliver lower emissions without the complexity and expense of water, which is exactly what our DT17 platform was engineered to provide.”

Crawford noted that combining Baker Hughes’ NovaLT16 technology with Dynamis’ hypermobile packaging delivers power density that reduces construction timelines and civils costs. 

“This collaboration represents an innovative step in providing reliable, efficient and rapidly deployable power for the accelerating needs of data centers and the critical energy infrastructure,” he commented.

Discussing the broader context, Baker Hughes chairman and CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said: “Power demand in North America is accelerating as data centers and digitization expand, manufacturing returns and energy infrastructure continues to grow. We are proud to strengthen our relationship with Dynamis. 

“Together, we are delivering consistent, reliable and efficient power solutions critical to building a resilient energy system that is secure, sustainable and affordable.”

The DT17 platform builds on Dynamis’ larger DT35 hypermobile power package and has been developed for customers requiring flexible natural gas generation to bridge immediate power requirements.

This new application of Baker Hughes’ NovaLT16 turbines offers enhanced versatility for large power consumers in the data center and oil and gas industries, offering resilience in challenging environments and the ability to power reliably.

Originally published in Factor This Power Engineering sister publication Enlit World.

TerraPower founder and Chairman Bill Gates, along with TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque met with Prime Minister Han Seong-sook and leaders from the Export-Import Bank of Korea, HD Hyundai, HDEC and SK Innovation.

Following the day of meetings in Seoul, TerraPower announced a framework agreement with HDEC to support the commercial deployment of Natrium reactors. Under the agreement, TerraPower selected HDEC as its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor to build up to eight of its future Natrium reactors with completion, price and performance guarantees, intended to facilitate conventional commercial financing of the Natrium reactor fleet. TerraPower argues the collaboration will accelerate the commercial deployment of Natrium reactors by streamlining costs, improving design and construction efficiencies and strengthening global supply chains to deploy a fleet of Natrium plants across the United States and in select international markets.

Separately, TerraPower and SK Innovation announced a term sheet agreement to advance their intent to develop Korea’s first commercial Natrium plant along with plans to expand internationally. The two companies plan to explore opportunities to collaborate on engineering and digital solutions, including digital twin technology and artificial intelligence.

“Today marks a pivotal moment for TerraPower as we embark on a new chapter of international collaboration with Korea’s leading organizations,” said Chris Levesque, president and CEO of TerraPower. “Combining TerraPower’s innovative advanced nuclear technology with Korea’s nuclear construction and operational expertise will strengthen our global cooperation and accelerate the deployment of a Natrium fleet that will transform the world’s energy landscape.”

What is Natrium?

The Natrium plant design features a 345 MW sodium-cooled fast reactor with a patented molten salt-based energy storage system. TerraPower argues the storage technology can boost the system’s output to 500 MW of power when needed, as it is designed to keep base output steady and can ramp up when demand peaks.

The first Natrium plant is being developed in Wyoming through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), a public-private partnership. That project is expected to be completed in 2030 and would be the first utility-scale advanced nuclear power plant in the United States. TerraPower is commercializing the Natrium technology, which includes an agreement with Meta for up to eight Natrium plants by 2035.

The project’s timeline has already been shaped by fuel realities: Natrium requires high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, a fuel in short supply domestically. TerraPower announced a schedule delay in late 2022, pointing to insufficient commercial HALEU manufacturing capacity and the loss of Russian supply options.

Natrium was the first utility scale advanced reactor project in the United States to receive a construction permit from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Additionally, it was NRC’s first approval to build a commercial reactor in nearly a decade and its first construction green light for a non-light-water reactor design in more than 40 years, according to the agency.

This agreement advances engineering design, licensing, and safety analysis for the Victoria, Texas, project, which aims to deploy both GE Vernova 7HA.02 gas turbines and GVH BWRX-300 SMRs, subject to a final investment decision in 2027. Blue Energy hopes to pair natural gas and nuclear generation to help meet surging U.S. electricity demand driven by data centers and advanced manufacturing.

The collaboration combines Blue Energy’s project financing and nuclear construction experience with GE Vernova’s reactor technology and flagship turbines.

“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.”

With its gas-plus-nuclear strategy, Blue Energy plans to initially power a nearby data center with approximately 1 gigawatt of power using two GE Vernova gas turbines in 2030 and then add another 1.5 gigawatts of power from up to five GE Vernova Hitachi SMRs beginning in 2032.

“Meeting the surging demand for electricity requires proven, scalable technologies and the ability to bring them together as integrated solutions,” said Eric Gray, CEO, GE Vernova’s Power segment. “Our work with Blue Energy combines GE Vernova’s flagship HA gas turbine technology with GE Vernova Hitachi’s advanced nuclear SMR technology, while supporting Blue Energy’s innovative project model. Together, we are establishing a blueprint for deploying reliable baseload power at the scale and speed customers need.”

The BWRX-300 in Action

The first BWRX-300 is currently under construction at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington site in Canada, with completion expected by the end of the decade, which would make it the first grid-scale SMR in the Western world if successful.

The companies are also exploring methods for contracting and offsite construction of large power plant modules consistent with GVH’s BWRX-300 design in an effort to reduce capital costs and to accelerate offsite pre-fabrication supply chains.

The NRC recently approved Blue Energy’s approach to resequencing major phases of nuclear plant construction that supports large module and gas-to-nuclear delivery schedules. As a result, Blue Energy argues it can accelerate deployment of new nuclear power with the potential to eliminate “at least half a decade” off the conventional ten-year-plus nuclear timeline. Additionally, the company maintains it can reduce time to power to 48 months or less by energizing turbines with a natural gas bridge that converts to nuclear power.

Sandia National Laboratories is a key player in closed-loop, recompression Brayton cycle systems and components, and operates one of the world’s foremost sCO₂ test facilities. Under the partnership, Sandia and Elemental Nuclear will collaborate to design, build, and demonstrate advanced sCO₂ power generation technology across two system scales.

The first system is a 1 MWe natural-gas- and waste-heat-fired power and cooling system targeted for use in small modular data centers and remote military installations. Elemental then plans to develop a scaled-up 10 MWe unit engineered to operate with a range of heat sources, including the Elemental ISTR nuclear reactor. The larger system will focus on behind-the-meter power applications for data centers, microgrids, and industrial customers.

Through this work, Elemental Nuclear hopes to become the first company to demonstrate the long-term viability of sCO₂ Brayton cycle power generation systems at this scale. The first system is expected to be operable in 2027, with supporting commercial system deliveries beginning in 2028.

“Approval of this Strategic Partnership Project is a major validation of Elemental’s vision and an important milestone for our company,” said David Blythe, Chief Executive Officer of Elemental Nuclear. “Working alongside Sandia National Laboratories — the world’s foremost authority on Brayton cycle systems — we intend to prove that sCO₂ power generation can be delivered reliably and at commercial scale, as a viable source of on-site power to data centers, industrial operators, and critical installations.”

What is the Brayton Cycle?

The Brayton Cycle uses heated supercritical carbon dioxide instead of steam to generate electricity. It’s named after 19th-century engineer George Brayton, who developed the method of using hot, pressurized fluid to spin a turbine, much like a jet engine.

Supercritical carbon dioxide is a non-toxic, stable material that is under so much pressure that it acts like both a liquid and a gas. This CO2, which stays within the system and is not released as a greenhouse gas, can get much hotter than steam, up to 1,290 degrees Fahrenheit (700 Celsius).

Partially because of this heat, researchers say the Brayton Cycle has the potential to be much more efficient at turning heat from power plants into energy than the traditional steam-based Rankine cycle.

In a simple closed-loop Brayton cycle, the supercritical CO2 is heated by a heat exchanger. Then the energy is extracted from the CO2 in a turbine. After the CO2 exits the turbine, it is cooled in a recuperator before entering a compressor. The compressor raises the supercritical CO2 to the necessary pressure before it meets up with waste heat in the recuperator and returns to the heater to continue the cycle. The recuperator improves the overall efficiency of the system.

PJM Interconnection, the largest U.S. grid operator, recently greenlit 715 power projects in the first batch of submissions into its new first-ready, first-served generation queue. Much of it is gas, with some nuclear and solar and storage accounting for most of the advertised nameplate capacity. But tucked away in the 500 megawatts (MW) or so of “other” fuel-type submissions, among biomass, methane, and coal, lies an eye-catcher: a 425 MW nuclear fusion project in Chesterfield County, Virginia (Dominion Energy territory) targeting an in-service date of 1/1/2032. That’s like five-ish years away!

Its developer is listed as “4th Power LLC” (not to be confused with thermal battery company Fourth Power) but can be traced to Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), which celebrated the submission of its application in April, the first time a fusion power company has ever requested to join a major grid operator.

Right now, CFS is collaborating with MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center to build SPARC, a fusion device that produces plasmas that generate more energy than they consume. If everything goes as planned, it would be the world’s first net-energy fusion machine. Following a successful SPARC demonstration, CFS will construct ARC, the first fusion power plant capable of producing net electricity. That premier plant, now named the Fall Line Fusion Power Station, is the project PJM deemed qualified for study in its Cycle 1. Pretty cool stuff.

If CFS or one of its contemporaries somehow pulls this off, and history would strongly suggest that it will not, the implications are absolutely game-changing for… well, everything. Fusion has long been considered the holy grail of power generation. If we can scale the process of colliding hydrogen isotopes with special magnets (and witchcraft?) to produce vastly more energy than we can with nuclear fission, the way we think about our energy systems will be turned upside down.

On the flip side, can you imagine how funny it would be if a virtually limitless source of clean energy gets stuck in PJM’s queue behind gas projects and coal plant life extensions? Those articles will write themselves!

Welcome to the Factor This Brief, a weekly collection of energy industry finance and development updates, delivered straight to your inbox on Monday mornings and hosted in a not-so-brief fashion here on Factor This, featuring the people, projects, and technology driving our electric future.

Thanks for checking it out. If you like what you see or want to recommend a story for next week, drop me a line. And when quittin’ time gets here, give her my best.

All Your Base Are Belong to Us

Austin, Texas-headquartered energy company Base Power is reimagining how we think about home batteries, and investors are shoveling money behind the concept. Last week, Base Power announced a massive $1 billion Series D financing round and the launch of a new product with nearly three times the capacity of a Tesla Powerwall.

The Series D, at a $13B post-money valuation, was led by Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners, and JPMorganChase’s Strategic Investment Group, part of the firm’s Security and Resiliency Initiative, with participation from Altimeter, D1 Capital Partners, Sands Capital, Coatue, Layer Global, and Energy Impact Partners. Base’s major existing investors are also re-investing, including Thrive Capital, a16z, Lightspeed, Trust Ventures, CapitalG, and more.

Base Core, a home battery designed from the ground up to support the grid, is now in production at Base Factory 1 in Austin, which is churning out thousands of made-in-America systems per month. It is one of the largest home batteries on the market, coming in at a robust 39.2 kilowatt-hours (kWh) / 78.4 kWh, dwarfing the ever-popular Powerwall’s 13.5 kWh offering. Base Core has been engineered for rapid deployment at scale, according to the company.

“We brought together the best hardware and software engineers in the world to build Core – a battery designed to protect American homes while supporting the grid,” said Zach Dell, CEO and co-founder of Base Power. “It installs in under an hour, switches over seamlessly, is built to handle extreme weather, and delivers extended outage protection at a price Americans can afford.”

Base Power, now available to homeowners in parts of Texas and Illinois, has raised more than $2.5B to date. The latest funding will go toward deploying Base Core in more homes, national expansion, and hiring talent. This year, Base Power has expanded its battery fleet to over 500 megawatt-hours (MWh) and launched partnerships with utilities including El Paso Electric, Austin Energy, and CoServ for 200 MW+ of capacity.

(And here’s the reference in the headline, in case you don’t speak late-90’s memes)

Base Factory 1 in Austin, Texas, is producing thousands of systems per month. Courtesy: Base Power

Flint Locked

The biggest battery energy storage system (BESS) in PJM territory is now under construction. Eolian is targeting operations for spring 2027 at Flint Grid, a 200 MW / 1.06 gigawatt-hour (GWh) grid-scale BESS in Jersey Township, Licking County, Ohio.

Located adjacent to New Albany datacenter and industrial load, the Flint Grid Project is the first large-scale battery energy storage system to qualify for the PJM capacity market and the largest BESS to clear the 2027/28 Residual Capacity Auction, representing more than half of all new battery storage capacity in that capacity year (ouch!). The Flint Grid endeavor is also the first grid-scale battery energy storage system permitted by the Ohio Power Siting Board and the largest system built to date in the state.

According to Eolian, Flint Grid will unlock the grid and balance costs in a critical location for datacenter growth.

“There’s growing consternation about how the US can rapidly scale infrastructure to support America’s growing electricity demand, but not nearly enough conversation about how to use existing technology to unlock the wasted capacity that already exists on the grid,” opined Aaron Zubaty, founder and CEO of Eolian. “Flint Grid demonstrates how companies like Eolian have been investing in solutions to unlock the grid and reduce price pressures on consumers using proven and scalable technology. This project requires hundreds of millions of dollars to construct, and we committed the necessary capital and resources years before today’s demand forecasts became headline news.”

“As policymakers consider changes to competitive electricity markets, it’s critical that they avoid undermining the long-term investments already underway that will make better use of existing transmission infrastructure and that create a bridge to further long-term supply expansion,” he added.

Power Player Doubles Up

A major developer, owner, and operator of utility-scale clean energy projects has effectively doubled its line of credit and, in turn, its capacity to deliver electrons.

Last week Avantus announced the closing of an upsized $1.05 billion corporate credit facility, a massive upgrade from the $522 million facility previously put in place in July 2024.

The expanded facility will advance Avantus’ independent power producer (IPP) strategy and accelerate the execution of its portfolio across core markets in California and the Desert Southwest, according to the company. Avantus boasts a development pipeline totaling at least 24 GW of capacity, including 13 GW of solar integrated with 44 GWh of storage.

“This upsized facility provides Avantus with the flexibility to advance our pipeline of high-quality solar and storage assets, moving projects swiftly from development into construction and operations,” assessed Omar Karar, EVP of capital markets and M&A at Avantus. “The strong demand reflects deep institutional conviction in our platform, and we’re grateful to be expanding and extending our relationships with leading firms long rooted in our sector.”

“It gives us the financial strength and scale to deliver the affordable, reliable power millions of Americans depend on,” added Cliff Graham, Avantus CEO.

The consortium includes existing lenders who extended or upsized their commitments, including SMBC, serving as Administrative Agent, Collateral Agent and Lead Arranger, alongside prior Lead Arrangers ING Capital LLC, HSBC, KKR and Truist Securities, Inc., as well as new Lead Arrangers BHI (Bank Hapoalim), CIBC, KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., Mizuho, National Bank of Canada Capital Markets and Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking.

Last month, as you may have seen in a previous edition of the Factor This Brief, Avantus announced it had reached commercial operation at Aratina 1, a 200 MW / 500 MWh storage project in Kern County, California. The company also closed more than $525 million in construction financing for the adjacent Aratina 2 project, in addition to signing a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for Rexford 2 in Tulare County, California, set to deliver 200 MW of solar and 800 MWh of energy storage. Avantus is on track to bring 788 MW into commercial operation with 800 MW under construction by the end of 2026.

Factory-Built Microreactors, Anyone?

Nuclear fission startup Antares has raised $470 million in Series C funding, co-led by Paradigm and Caffeinated Capital, that will accelerate the company’s path from demonstration to deployment at U.S. military installations.

The capital, which includes $370 million in equity and $100 million in debt, comes weeks after Antares took its Mark-0 reactor critical at Idaho National Laboratory. It was the first privately developed non-light-water reactor to achieve criticality in the United States in more than four decades. Antares says it met the milestone on schedule, validating reactor physics, reactivity control, and instrumentation in a full-scale core using TRISO fuel.

“On June 4th, we won the race to criticality, and now we’ve shifted to the race to commercialization,” said Jordan Bramble, CEO and co-founder of Antares. “The military has been a partner to us every step of the way. We’ve secured firm contracts to build reactors. To do that, we’re announcing $470M of equity and debt to invest one-to-one with the taxpayer in bringing this technology to commercial scale. Our deep customer relationships and committed orderbook allow us to focus our engineering roadmap on one simple thing from here on out – reactors that operate reliably and safely for 6+ years deployed to military installations as soon as 2028. This focus will guide us to the first microreactor producing useful electricity in a truly commercially viable design.”

Courtesy: Antares

The Series C funding round also included participation from Point72 Ventures, Shine Capital, Industrious Ventures, and others.

Antares microreactors are designed to run safely and autonomously for years without refueling, delivering uninterrupted power. The Series C funds the path from a demonstrated reactor to fielded systems – the Mark-1 electricity-producing reactor in 2027, and initial deployments to defense customers in 2028, including the U.S. Air Force under the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations initiative. Antares produces microreactors purpose-designed for those missions, addressing a widening national vulnerability: many U.S. military installations depend on a commercial grid under growing strain from rising demand, extreme weather, and adversary targeting. Antares is building to meet the deadline set out by Executive Order 14299, which directs the Department of War to begin operating a reactor at a domestic military installation by September 30, 2028.

Where the Sun Grows

Global inverter and BESS provider Sungrow has commissioned the RESPITE solar-plus-storage project in Sierra Leone. It is the country’s first major national-scale power generation project to be completed and connected to the grid in nearly a decade.

The project features a total energy storage capacity of 35 MWh and integrates eight units of Sungrow’s PowerTitan Series ESS.

Sierra Leone, one of the countries with the lowest electricity access rates globally, has long faced challenges from limited power infrastructure and unreliable electricity supply. The national grid relies on a single 161 kilovolt (kV) transmission line with a capacity of 70 MW, connecting the Bumbuna Hydropower Plant to the distribution network of Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital. The grid frequently experiences power outages, lasting up to 18 hours.

Of the approximately 172,000 electricity users nationwide, 90% are concentrated in Freetown, leaving most regions with limited access to reliable power. Only 5 of the 16 regional capitals receive partial electricity supply from diesel generators and hydropower facilities, while rural electrification remains severely constrained.

Like many energy projects in low-income countries, RESPITE faced structural barriers such as weak grid conditions, limited electricity affordability, and insufficient commercial viability, creating challenges in attracting commercial financing. Leveraging Sungrow’s PowerTitan advanced black start and independent off-grid capabilities, the project team implemented an emergency response strategy by switching from grid-connected commissioning to off-grid operation. Through the system’s black start capability, it can automatically switch to black start mode and establish a microgrid without external grid support, using solar power to support on-site loads and create a stable electrical environment for commissioning.

Sungrow’s globally recognized bankability also garnered confidence from the World Bank, which backed the project. According to World Bank estimates, once fully operational, the project is expected to increase Sierra Leone’s national electricity access rate from 16% to 36%, significantly improving power availability and delivering stable electricity to households, schools, healthcare facilities, and commercial and industrial users.