Environment

How GE Vernova plans to deploy small nuclear reactors across the developed world

Published

6 months ago

November 30, 2024

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GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor incorporates proven components.

Courtesy: GE Verona

GE Vernova is aiming to deploy small nuclear reactors across the developed world over the next decade, staking out a leadership position in a budding technology that could play a central role in meeting surging electricity demand and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

The company’s small modular reactor, or SMR, is designed to reduce the cost of building new nuclear plants, said Nicole Holmes, chief commercial officer at GE Vernova’s nuclear unit GE Hitachi.

GE Vernova is the spinoff of General Electric’s former energy business. The company’s stock has more than doubled since listing on the New York Stock Exchange last April, with investors seeing the Cambridge, Mass.-based company playing a key role in the future of the power industry through a portfolio of divisions that span nuclear, natural gas, wind and carbon capture.

The U.S. government wants to triple nuclear power by 2050 to shore up an electric grid that is under growing pressure from surging power demand. But large nuclear projects, in the U.S. at least, are notoriously plagued by multi-billion dollar budgets, cost overruns, delayed construction timelines and, sometimes, cancellations.

“Affordability has been the real challenge for nuclear through the many years,” Holmes told CNBC. “We’re beginning to crack that at this point.”

Simpler design

GE Vernova’s SMR, the BWRX-300, has a simpler design with fewer components and less concrete and steel compared to a larger nuclear plant, Holmes said. The reactor might cost somewhere in the range of $2 billion to $4 billion to build compared to $10 billion to $15 billion for a large nuclear plant, Holmes said.

The plant generates 300 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 200,000 U.S. households. The average reactor in the U.S. fleet has about 1,000 megawatts of power, enough for more than 700,000 homes. The smaller size offers more flexibility in terms of location, she said.

“You could put four of these on a site and get the same output as you would from a single large reactor,” the executive said. “You can have one started, deploying energy, making money while you build out others. It gives you a lot of optionality,” she said.

GE Vernova is targeting more than $2 billion in annual revenue from its small reactor business by the mid-2030s. That compares with total company revenue of $33.2 billion last year. GE Vernova sees demand for as many as 57 small reactors in total across its target markets in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Europe by 2035.

To hit that revenue target, GE Vernova would need to ship between three to four reactors per year, according to an October research note from Bank of America. The company could capture a 33% market share in its target markets, according to the bank.

“We’re underway building a strong order book in those target markets,” Holmes said. “A lot of the buyers in these early stages will be utilities.”

GE Vernova is also talking to major tech companies, which Holmes declined to name, that are showing a growing interest in nuclear power to meet electricity demand from their artificial intelligence data centers.

“We are in conversations with a lot of the big tech companies,” Holmes said. “I see a ton of interest from them in in new nuclear, and what it could do to meet some of their energy demands.”

North America deployments

GE Vernova signed a collaboration agreement in March 2023 with Ontario Power Generation, Tennessee Valley Authority and Synthos Green Energy in Poland to invest $500 million to kick start the BWRX-300 and launch the reactor at a commercial scale.

The goal is to create a standardized reactor design that can be deployed across GE Vernova’s target markets rather than building different nuclear plants at each site, Holmes said.

“We’re working on a plant that can be deployed in many, many places across many, many regulatory regimes and still be the same fundamental plant,” Holmes said. “They’re helping us with those requirements to make it the same,” she said of the collaboration partners.

GE Vernova is also seeing growing interest in expanding capacity at existing nuclear plants by adding small modular reactors, said Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Parks on the company’s Oct. 23 earnings call.

GE Vernova won the first commercial contract in North America to deploy a small modular reactor for Ontario Power in January 2023. Holmes described the project as the first commercial deployment of an SMR not only in North America, but also in the developed world.

The reactor is scheduled to come online in 2029 in Darlington on Lake Ontario about 60 miles east of Toronto. Ontario Power eventually plans to deploy three more BWRX-300 reactors at Darlington.

In the U.S., the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is considering building a BWRX-300 at its Clinch River site a few miles from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

TVA received the first early site permit in the nation from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2019 for a small modular reactor at Clinch River. The power company has approved $350 million for the project so far, though its board has not made a final decision yet on whether to build a reactor.

TVA is pursuing small reactors because there is less financial risk tied to them compared to large 1,000 megawatt, or 1 gigawatt, size reactors, said Scott Hunnewell, vice president of TVA’s new nuclear program.

“If you have a gigawatt scale plant where your construction timeline starts at eight years and then gets longer, your interest expenses really start to accrue and really drive your cost up,” Hunnewell told CNBC. “The SMR just overall, it’s a smaller bite at the apple, a lot less risk associated with it.”

And TVA is already familiar with the boiling water technology of the BWRX-300, Hunnewell said. The power company operates three large GE boiling water reactors at its Browns Ferry site that use the same fuel that would power the BWRX-300.

“GE Hitachi is a known quantity,” Hunnewell said.

GE Vernova, Ontario Power, TVA and Synthos Green Energy will share lessons learned as they deploy reactors to further streamline the construction process, Holmes said.

The collaboration will also potentially benefit companies that are not part of the team. TVA plans to share information with any utility that is interested in learning from the power company’s experience as it seeks to deploy small reactors, Hunnewell said.

Tech sector interest

While the primary customers for the BWRX-300 are utilities, the tech sector is playing an increasingly influential role in reviving nuclear power after a long period of reactor shutdowns in the U.S. due to poor economics in the face of cheap and plentiful natural gas.

Microsoft signed 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy, which will provide long-term financial support to revive the Three Mile Island nuclear plant outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Amazon and Alphabet’s Google made investments in small nuclear reactors in October.

Holmes doesn’t see the tech companies actually building and operating their own nuclear plants, but instead supporting the deployment of new reactors by purchasing dedicated power from utilities.

“As utilities think about deploying additional capacity, these large tech companies could be an off taker and agree to power purchase prices that support deployment of these early units and early technologies,” Holmes said.

The growing power needs of tech companies’ artificial intelligence data centers will be a “tremendous demand driver” for small nuclear reactors, the executive added.

Environment

It’s official: Volkswagen confirms new electric Golf GTI will be FWD only

Published

2 hours ago

May 19, 2025

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It's official: Volkswagen confirms new electric Golf GTI will be FWD only

The Electric Volkswagen Golf GTI Will Be a 'Monster'

Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer has confirmed the company’s plans to develop a full range of “monster” electric hot-hatches, including an all-new electric Golf GTI that will stay true to its iconic namesake with a boxy profile and, of course, front-wheel drive.

After months of conjecture, VW CEO Thomas Schäfer says an all-electric hot-hatch version of the company’s next-generation Golf is, in fact, coming soon. What’s more, Schäfer told the UK’s Auto Express that “it’ll be a monster car.”

And the new Golf GTI? He says it’s just the beginning. “We’ll bring through a whole group of GTI, starting with the ID.2 GTI which is the first one coming electrically,” Schäfer told Phil McNamara. “When we started this journey, [we told the] the development teams, ‘we’ve got to be proud of the GTI of the future,’ and the team’s taking that on.”

Charged up

The upcoming electric Golf GTI’s closest mechanical relative is likely to be the ID.3 GTX, which features a 321 hp electric motor sending power to the rear wheels. Assuming a similar output, that would give the upcoming FWD GTI a staggering 80 more horsepower than today’s 2.0L, turbocharged, ICE-powered GTI.

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As a graduate of The Cadillac Allanté School of Front-wheel Drive Performance™, I shudder to think of the kind of torque steer something like a 321 hp FWD hot-hatch would produce – but we’ve come a long way in the last thirty years, and today’s torque-vectoring traction control systems are sure to keep the new FWD VW GTI under control.

In fact, such a system was alluded to back in 2023, when the ID.GTI concept based on the ID.2 (shown, above) was first unveiled:

The way the first electric GTI unleashes its dynamic capabilities is new and exciting. The worlds of the electric ID. GTI Concept and turbocharged Golf GTI meet up when it comes to transmitting the power to the front wheels. A front-axle differential lock—electronically controlled by a Vehicle Dynamics Manager—is used, just like the current generation of the GTI. The Golf GTI and Golf GTI Clubsport were the first Volkswagen models with this traction-control system. With the ID. GTI Concept, an electric Volkswagen now has this intelligent system on board for the first time.

VOLKSWAGEN

If the big boss is to be believed, the system works. “We’ve driven a few prototypes on the new set-up, and it’s mind blowing,” said Schäfer. “What about the sound? What about the total feel, the handling and so on. It can be done.”

Expect the electric Golf GTI to bow sometime in 2026 with a semi-reasonable price tag, with a hotter, less reasonably priced AWD Golf R version and a smaller, ID.1 based GTI model following a year later.

Electrek’s Take

Retro VW interior; via Reddit user pedallingpanda.

If the new electric VW Golf GTI doesn’t have plaid Recaro-style sport seats I won’t care, no matter how quick it is, what it costs, how much range it has, or how cool it looks in my neighbor Jeff’s driveway (that dude buys GTIs).

SOURCE: AutoExpress UK; images by pedallingpanda; VW.

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Environment

This 350 hp, 425 mile Stellantis EV really SHOULD be the new Chrysler 300

Published

16 hours ago

May 18, 2025

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This 350 hp, 425 mile Stellantis EV really SHOULD be the new Chrysler 300

The DS No. 8 is France's umpteenth attempt to take on Audi, BMW, and Mercedes: an electric car worthy of a president, but cheaper than its German rivals.

After canceling the upcoming Airflow electric crossover and killing its popular 300 sedan, Chrysler only has one nameplate left in its lineup – but it doesn’t have to be this way. Stellantis already builds a full-size electric sedan that could prove to be a badge-engineered winner.

And, yes – it really should have been the new Chrysler 300. Meet the DS No. 8.

Stellantis’ US brands have had a tough go of the last few years, with Jeep trying and failing to bait luxury buyers willing to part with six-figure sums for a new Grand Wagoneer or generate excitement for the new electric Wagoneer S. The Dodge brand is doing to better with the Charger, a confusing electric muscle car that has, so far, failed to appeal to enthusiasts of any kind. Meanwhile, the lone Chrysler left standing, the Pacifica minivan, made its debut back in 2016. Nearly ten long model years ago.

All the while, Stellantis’ European brands have been forging ahead with desireable EVs – most recently launching the new DS No. 8 high-riding sedan, shown here, back in December … and I’m here to tell you that it really SHOULD have been the new Chrysler 300.

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This, but with rich Corinthian leather

With a different grille, a Chrysler badge on the steering wheel, and a few different plastichrome numbers on the back, the DS Automobiles No. 8 could easily be a new-age Chrysler 300. Heck, even the interior’s avant-garde styling and architecturally-inspired stitching could tie-in to the Art Deco-style Chrysler Building in New York, further strengthening the big No. 8’s Chrysler-brand credibility.

Spec-wise, the DS meets the bill, as well. With a 92.7 kWh battery and the standard 230 hp electric motors on board, the electric crossover is good for 750 km (466 miles) of range on the WLTP cycle. With the same battery and a 350 hp dual-motor setup that sacrifices about 40 miles of range for a more sure-footed AWD layout and a 5.4 second 0-60 time that compares nicely to the outgoing Chrysler 300 V8.

The DS offers reasonably rapid 150 kW charging, too, enabling a 10-80% charge (over 300 miles of additional driving range) in less than thirty minutes.

Why it would work

Think of all the reasons the Wagoneer S and Charger Daytona EVs have failed to reach an audience. From the confusing Wagoneer “sub-branding” to the fact that no one was really asking for either an eco-conscious muscle car or a loud EV. On the flip side of that, the 300 is something different.

Since its first iteration seventy years ago, the Chrysler 300 (called the “C-300” back in 1955) has been a forward-looking vehicle. Even the most recent versions, developed off the Mercedes-Benz W210 platform Chrysler inherited while it was part of the “merger of equals” with Mercedes-Benz, looked forward from the malaise-era K-car brand to a bright, Mercedes-infused future.

With the DS No. 8, Chrysler could do it again. It could revive its classic American nameplate on a European-designed platform that wasn’t designed to be a Chrysler, doesn’t look like a Chrysler, and shouldn’t work as a Chrysler, but somehow does. The fact that it could also be the brand’s first successful electric offering in the US would just be a bonus.

Original content from Electrek.

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Environment

Autonomous electric haul truck fleet set to revolutionize mineral mining in China

Published

17 hours ago

May 18, 2025

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Autonomous electric haul truck fleet set to revolutionize mineral mining in China

A fleet of Huaneng Ruichi autonomous electric mining trucks have been deployed in China, supported by Huawei's Cloud Services and 5G-Advanced network

Powered by tech giant Huawei 5G-Advanced network, a fleet of over 100 Huaneng Ruichi all-electric autonomous haul trucks and heavy equipment assets have been deployed at the Yimin open-pit mine in Inner Mongolia.

With more than 100 units on site, China’s state-backed Huaneng Group officially deployed the world’s largest fleet of unmanned electric mining trucks at the Yimin coal plant in Inner Mongolia this past week. The autonomous trucks use the same Huawei Commercial Vehicle Autonomous Driving Cloud Service (CVADCS) powered by the ame 5G-Advanced (5G-A) network that powers its self-driving car efforts. Huawei says it’s the key to enabling the Yimin mine’s large-scale vehicle-cloud-network synergy.

Huawei is calling the achievement a “world’s first,” saying the new system has improved operator safety at Yimin while setting new benchmarks for AI and autonomous mining.

The autonomous mine project aligns with a broader push by Chinese government and industry to integrate AI and advanced connectivity into traditional industries – an approach we’ve already seen meet with great success in port environments by Hesai and Westwell.

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And, if technology like Rocsys’ charging robots take off, these autonomous haul trucks won’t even need anyone to plug them in at the end of their shifts!

For their part, Huaneng Ruichi claims its cabin-less electric offer an industry-leading 90 metric ton rating (that’s about 100 imperial tons) and the ability operate continually in extreme cold temperatures as low as -40° (it’s the same, C or F), while delivering 20% more operational efficiency than a human-driven truck.

The Huawei-issued press release is a bit light on truck specs, but similar 90 tonne electric units claim 350 or 422 kWh LFP battery packs and up to 565 hp from their electric drive motors and some 2,300 Nm (1,700 lb-ft) of tq from 0 rpm.

Huawei executives said the Ruichi trucks reflect the company’s vision for smarter mining operations, with the potential to introduce similar technologies in markets like Africa and Latin America. The 100 asset electric fleet marks the first phase of a plan to deploy 300 autonomous trucks at the Yimin mine by 2028.

Electrek’s Take

Chinese autonomous electric mining trucks get to work in Mongolia — Electric haul trucks; via Huawei.

From drilling and rigging to heavy haul solutions, companies like Huaneng Group are proving that electric equipment is more than up to the task of moving dirt and pulling stuff out of the ground. At the same time, rising demand for nickel, lithium, and phosphates combined with the natural benefits of electrification are driving the adoption of electric mining machines while a persistent operator shortage is boosting demand for autonomous tech in those machines.

The combined factors listed above are rapidly accelerating the rate at which machines that are already in service are becoming obsolete – and, while some companies are exploring the cost/benefit of converting existing vehicles to electric, the general consensus seems to be that more companies will be be buying more new equipment more often in the years ahead – and more of that equipment will be more and more likely to be autonomous as time goes on.

SOURCES | IMAGES: Huawei, South China Morning Post, and Supply Chain Digital.

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