Amazon and American Electric Power Team Up to Explore 960 MW Nuclear Project in Indiana
nashnova research
Amazon and American Electric Power are jointly evaluating a 960 MW nuclear plant in Indiana, using 12 small modular reactors that have never run commercially — the latest big-tech bet on carbon-free power for AI data centers, with a final go/no-go decision not expected until late 2029.
What would this plant actually look like?
The site is a retired AEP coal plant in Sullivan County, Indiana. The plan calls for 12 small modular reactors designed by X-Energy, each rated at 80 MW, totaling 960 MW.
Small modular reactors — factory-built nuclear units far smaller than conventional reactors — are the project's technological backbone. But X-Energy's design has not yet received U.S. federal regulatory approval, and no unit of this type operates commercially anywhere.
In plain terms = the technology is still on paper. Not a single unit has run on a real power grid.
Why is AEP hunting for new generation capacity?
Shane Lies, AEP's president of nuclear development, laid out the math: the company had roughly 30 GW of available capacity last year but needs to add 63 GW by 2030 — more than double its current base.
This means → AEP's question is not *whether* to expand but *with what*. The gap is large enough to force bets on multiple technology paths at once.
Three drivers behind the surge: industrial customers, household electrification, and AI data centers. Lies said growth will extend well past 2030. "We must continue to bring new generation capacity online to meet this unprecedented growth," he said.
What does Amazon get out of the deal?
If the project proceeds, Amazon would purchase all of the plant's output — the full 960 MW reserved for its own use.
Amazon has pledged to eliminate or offset all carbon emissions by 2040. Its data-center buildout still partly relies on natural gas; nuclear is positioned as a key carbon-free alternative.
This reflects a broader shift: tech companies are no longer just buying electricity — they are stepping into generation planning and investment, trying to lock in clean compute power at the source.
How far along is the X-Energy technology path?
Indiana is not a one-off. Amazon is also an investor in X-Energy and is working with Energy Northwest on a project in Washington State that would likewise deploy up to 12 X-Energy reactors.
Separately, Dow Chemical plans to install four of the same reactors at its Texas chemical complex. Across the three projects, X-Energy has three planned deployments.
In plain terms = the pipeline looks substantial on paper, but the critical fact is this: none of the three projects has broken ground. All remain in the planning stage.
What does the late-2029 decision point really mean?
AEP expects to make a final go/no-go decision by the end of 2029. The three parties have not disclosed financial terms.
This means → there is roughly a four-year window ahead, during which X-Energy's reactor design must clear federal approval, AEP must confirm the economics, and Amazon must verify that its power needs still justify this scale.
Nuclear projects broadly face long construction timelines and high cost-overrun risk. Even if AEP greenlights the project in 2029, several more years of construction would follow. The plant would most likely not connect to the grid until the mid-to-late 2030s.
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