Doosan Enerbility and DL E&C investing $25 million in X-energy

X-energy's small module reactor plant [DOOSAN ENERBILITY]

Doosan Enerbility and DL E&C are investing a combined $25 million in X-energy, a U.S. small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) developer, the local engineering companies said Wednesday.

Doosan Enerbility will supply core components for X-energy’s SMRs as well.

Through the strategic investment, DL E&C, a local engineering and construction company, will acquire $20 million of X-energy convertible bonds, and Doosan Enerbility $5 million.

According to X-energy, the funds raised in the latest private round will be spent on the global deployment of its Xe-100 fourth-generation advanced SMR plant.

SMRs are reactors that can produce 300 megawatts of power or less, compared to the average of about 1 gigawatt for conventional reactors. Manufactured as units, SMRs are believed to have greater scalability and siting flexibility.

DL E&C said that it will work with X-energy to employ the nuclear power company’s technology in its plant projects in the future, as the heat generated by SMRs during the fission process can be used to produce hydrogen and ammonia.

Doosan Enerbility will engineer, supply and manufacture key components, such as a reactor pressure vessel for X-energy’s Xe-100 fourth-generation advanced small modular reactor. Doosan signed a deal with X-energy in September 2021 to develop and construct the prototype of the Xe-100 plant.

The Xe-100 plant has four reactor modules with a generation capacity of 80 megawatts each.

“We are thrilled to partner with world-class nuclear companies like Doosan and DL E&C as we continue to work toward the deployment of our Xe-100 advanced small modular reactor,” said J. Clay Sell, X-energy CEO.

Kim Jong-doo, executive vice president and head of nuclear business at Doosan Enerbility, said that “we will further solidify our foothold as a global SMR foundry by participating in domestic SMR development projects and supplying SMR components for leading players overseas.”

Based in Rockville, Maryland, X-energy is pushing to go public on the New York Stock Exchange via a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company by the second quarter.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]