Amazon AEP X-energy SMR Deal Targets 960MW Nuclear Power for Indiana Data Centers

Amazon, American Electric Power and X-energy said on October 19 that they will jointly study deploying "almost 960 megawatts" of small modular reactor capacity in Indiana, a project where Amazon funds construction and acts as the first buyer of the power once it operates. The plan, reported by Data Center Dynamics citing the companies, is the second Amazon X-energy SMR agreement signed with a regional utility, after a Washington state project first announced in 2024.

X-energy, the reactor developer Amazon has backed, would supply 12 of its Xe-100 reactors, each rated at 80 megawatts of electrical capacity plus a further 200 megawatts of thermal power. Once deployed, the units are expected to feed electricity both to Amazon's data center portfolio and to the regional grid that AEP's Indiana Michigan Power utility operates. The partners say the project could support more than 1,000 construction jobs and more than 100 permanent roles.

Related reading: Google Locks In 702 MW of Fuel-Cell Power From AEP for Its AI Data Centers.

The Indiana site is a retired coal facility, a common siting choice as utilities and hyperscalers look for existing transmission and cooling infrastructure. AEP's Indiana Michigan Power has run a nuclear plant for more than 50 years, which Josh Weissman, vice president of data center delivery at AWS, cited as a reason the companies fit together: the utility offers an experienced operator, X-energy brings an advanced reactor design, and Amazon provides a long-term commitment to carbon-free power procurement.

For Amazon, the deal is one building block in a stated goal of deploying more than 5 gigawatts of U.S. nuclear capacity by 2039. The company has pursued a mix of small reactors and larger nuclear sites as it races to secure firm power for AI workloads, where data center operators are competing for the same megawatts the grid has struggled to add. X-energy's Xe-100 is a high temperature gas cooled pebble bed reactor that uses helium as a coolant; the company argues the design needs no active safety systems, which it says lets the units be built closer to load.

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Related reading: Google Constellation Deal Adds 890 MW Nuclear Power to PJM.

The Indiana agreement is not the first milepost on that road. In 2024 Amazon and X-energy partnered with Washington state utility Energy Northwest on up to 960 megawatts from roughly 12 SMRs at the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility outside Richland, near the utility's Columbia Generating Station. That project set the template the Indiana deal now follows: a hyperscaler procures nuclear capacity through a developer it holds an equity stake in, with a regional utility operating the plant and the reactor fleet sized to serve both the customer and the grid.

X-energy has signed a string of similar agreements beyond the two with Amazon. It plans up to 6 gigawatts with Centrica in the UK, and up to 1.44 gigawatts with PJM and Talen in Pennsylvania. Last year it agreed with South Korea's Doosan Enerbility and Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power to accelerate U.S. SMR deployment, an accord aimed at mobilizing up to $50 billion in public and private investment. The company completed an initial public offering in April at an $11.9 billion valuation; more recent estimates cited by Data Center Dynamics now put it around $4.1 billion, a gap that reflects how much of the small reactor market is still forward pipeline rather than delivered capacity.

Related reading: Michigan's Google Data Center Gets a 20-Year Power Deal.

The deal matters for markets beyond the nuclear developers. Amazon is among the largest buyers of data center capacity, and its power procurement choices set terms that other hyperscalers replicate. Google has signed a 50 megawatt power purchase agreement with reactor developer Kairos through the Tennessee Valley Authority, Oracle is building a gigawatt scale SMR powered data center, and Switch has agreed to procure up to 12 gigawatts from Oklo reactors by 2044. Each agreement chips at a constraint the AI buildout faces: the grid cannot add computing fast enough without firm, dispatchable power.

The Indiana project remains a study, not a shovels-in-the-ground commitment. SMR deployments face licensing timelines, fuel supply questions and the same cost and schedule risk that has delayed larger nuclear projects. The companies have not announced a target in-service date. The next milestones to watch are progress at the Washington project, X-energy's buildout of its TRISO-X fuel facility, and whether these evaluation agreements convert into hard construction commitments.

Related reading: TeraWulf Expands Muskie Contracted Power to 1 GW.

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