$20B Nuclear Bet, $1B Fusion Boost, & Solar Grid Wars

The energy landscape is rapidly evolving in mid-2025, with groundbreaking developments that could reshape our energy future. 

Canadian nuclear ambitions come with a hefty price tag as Ontario Power Generation reveals its planned 300-megawatt small modular reactor will cost $7.7 billion Canadian—significantly more expensive than conventional generation. Meanwhile, NuScale Power reports manufacturing progress and potential deals that could see its modular reactors operational by 2030, while fusion startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems secures over $1 billion in funding from data center developers and tech giants to accelerate its timeline for commercial fusion.

A troubling security development has emerged as U.S. officials discover hidden communication devices in Chinese-made power equipment. These unauthorized cellular radios embedded in inverters and batteries could potentially allow remote control of critical grid infrastructure, raising serious concerns about vulnerabilities in our increasingly digital power systems.

The community solar sector shows remarkable momentum with Nexamp announcing approximately 100 new projects nationwide. Microsoft and Chipotle have both signed significant agreements supporting hundreds of megawatts of new solar development that will benefit thousands of households and businesses. Virtual power plants continue gaining traction, with innovative partnerships forming in Texas and California's demand response programs expanding dramatically—Sunrun alone expects to provide up to 375 megawatts of peak support while paying participants nearly $10 million this year.

What energy innovations are you most excited about? Subscribe to stay informed about the rapidly changing energy landscape and join the conversation about how we can build a more sustainable, secure energy future together.

Support the show

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I've got your energy stories for this, the
third week of May 2025.
And in the first one, ontarioPower Generations planned.
First small, 300 megawatt GEHitachi modular reactor in
Canada has an official price tagof $7.7 billion Canadian.
That's $5.5 billion to you inthe US, with $6.1 billion of

(00:20):
that for the BWRX300 reactorthat will be located next to
OPG's existing Darlingtonnuclear generating station.
An additional $1.6 billion willbe spent on related
infrastructure such as adminbuildings and cooling water
tunnels.
That would eventually supportthree additional reactors at a
later date.
The following three units notyet formally approved, would

(00:41):
cost substantially less butbring the entire price tag to an
estimated $20.9 billion.
Carbon-free, yes, but muchhigher than other generation
resources and cost.
The Globe and Mail pointed to arecently commissioned
377-megawatt gas-fired powerplant in Saskatchewan coming in
at $825 million.

(01:02):
Modular nuclear reactor companyNuScale Power says it's in
advanced discussions withseveral possible customers for
its reactors and could developan operating plant by 2030 if
they can get a deal signed soon.
The company anticipates a Julyapproval from the US Nuclear
Regulatory Commission for itsrevised and upgraded 77 megawatt
design Of interest.

(01:23):
Nuscale says its manufacturingpartner Doosan, currently has 12
NuScale modules in productionwith the potential to
manufacture up to 20 annually.
Nuscale foresees daisy-chaindevelopments of 4, 6, and
12-module developments withcombined capacities ranging from
308 megawatts to 924 megawatts.

(01:44):
Ranging from 308 megawatts to924 megawatts.
Well fusion startupCommonwealth Fusion Systems has
raised more than $1 billion withrecent investment led by an
unnamed hyperscale data centerdeveloper.
Microsoft and Google have bothpreviously invested in the
company.
Commonwealth plans to build itsfirst functioning 400-megawatt
fusion reactor within a decadeand in late 2024, commented that

(02:06):
it planned to build ARC, agrid-scale fusion power plant in
Virginia, by the early 2030s.
It hopes to have its smallerSPARC prototype system by 2027.
Reuters reported that US energysecurity officials found rogue
communications devices embeddedin Chinese-made inverters as

(02:26):
well as batteries.
Inverters are the criticaldevices that connect the direct
current DC from batteries, solarpanels and wind turbines and EV
chargers to the alternatingcurrent AC grid.
Us security experts who tookapart grid equipment over the
past nine months have discoveredundocumented communications
devices, including cellularradios.

(02:47):
They've also been found in somebatteries from multiple Chinese
suppliers.
Reuters says it was not able toascertain how many inverters
and batteries had been examined.
This matters because suchunauthorized communications
capabilities could facilitatethe breaching of firewalls,
allowing potential adversariesto remotely switch off inverters
or change their settings.

(03:08):
In a worse case, coordinatedactivity could destabilize power
grids and damage energyinfrastructure, resulting in
blackouts.
Now let's go.
Distributed Community solardeveloper Nexamp plans to
develop about 100 new projectsacross the US.
From Microsoft, nexamp willdevelop, construct and operate
300 megawatts of distributedsolar across five ISOs,

(03:31):
including New England, new York,pjm, miso and the Western
States.
Microsoft will buy and retirethe Renewable Energy Certificate
, the REX, to help meet itscommitment to be carbon negative
by 2030.
Nexamp's going to be plentybusy, it seems, because it's

(03:53):
also announced that it inked adeal with Chipotle Mexican Grill
for REX, supporting developmentand operation of 15 new
community solar farms generating75 megawatts in Illinois, new
York, maryland and Maine.
Chipotle will take credits from20 megawatts of projects, with
the remaining 55 megawatts beingused to provide hundreds of
thousands of dollars in savingsto an estimated 9,000 families,
non-profits and other businessesin those markets.

(04:15):
Abundance Energy, sonnen andEnergyWell are collaborating on
a virtual power plant, a VPPinitiative in Texas that will
combine behind-the-meter solarpower batteries and advanced
energy software.
Customers can finance andinstall solar panels and Sunnion
Connect home batteries throughSolRite, the financing entity,
who provides the equipment toeligible households with no

(04:37):
upfront cost.
The VPP will focus largely onthe greater Dallas, fort Worth
and Houston areas, offering eachresident two 4.8-kilowatt,
20-kilowatt-hour Sun and Coreplus 20 battery units.
The current customeraggregation to be enrolled in
the VPP totals 60 megawatt-hours, with plans for continued
expansion.

(04:57):
The system monitors solargeneration, customer energy use
and real-time power prices anddetermines when to charge or
discharge the batteries tooptimize the system economics.
And leading residential solarand battery installer, sunrun,
reports that it has expandedparticipation in California's
Demand Side Grid SupportInitiative and is aggregating

(05:18):
power in its CalReady programfor more than 56,000 homes with
solar plus storage systems tosupport the grid.
Between 4 pm and 9 pm from Maythrough October, sunrun's output
has soared from an average 48megawatts last summer to an
expected 250 megawatts per eventin 2025, with the potential to
peak at 375 megawatts.

(05:40):
Participating customers getpaid up to $150 per battery for
the energy their systemscontribute and in 2024 they
earned a combined $1.5 million.
Sunrun expects this year to payout almost $10 million to
participants.
Well, that's all for this week.
Thanks for watching and we'llsee you again soon.