Nuclear

Holtec wants to pair SMR with ‘green boiler’ solar and storage

Holtec International and Hyundai Engineering & Construction (Hyundai E&C) are launching an effort to accelerate the design of Holtec’s SMR-160 small modular reactor.
Holtec wants to pair SMR with ‘green boiler’ solar and storage
Artist's concept of Holtec SMR. (Credit: Holtec International).

Holtec International and Hyundai Engineering & Construction (Hyundai E&C) are launching an effort to accelerate the design of Holtec’s SMR-160 small modular reactor.

The signing ceremony Oct. 18 at Holtec’s Technology Campus in Camden, New Jersey builds on the companies’ 2021 agreement to work together on the SMR-160 design. Holtec said the small nuclear reactor would be deployable in most regions of the world without any significant modifications, reducing the time for the plant’s commissioning.

The teams want to pair the SMR-160 with a solar and energy storage system dubbed the Green Boiler. The facility would store surplus energy from the SMR-160 power plant and from the grid during periods of excess generation, dispatching the energy when needed.

The SMR-160 is a pressurized light-water reactor, generating 160 MWe/525 MWt using low-enriched uranium fuel, which could also produce process heat for industrial applications and hydrogen production. The partners aim to install SMR-160-centered ecosystems in over fifteen countries.

Dr. Kris Singh, President and CEO, Holtec International (Left); and Mr. Young-Joon Yoon, Hyundai E&C (Right) at a signing ceremony Oct. 18.

In July 2022, Holtec submitted a loan application to U.S. Department of Energy for a $7.4 billion program to help build four SMR-160s. Funding would also allow Holtec to expand the output capacity of its existing advanced manufacturing plant in New Jersey and to establish a new giga-factory to manufacture SMR-160s.

Holtec has also entered into an agreement with Entergy to evaluate the possibility of deploying one or more SMR-160s at Entergy sites.

In addition to Entergy’s service area as a potential location, the loan application also mentions building the first SMR-160 at Holtec’s Oyster Creek plant site (purchased from Exelon in 2018) in New Jersey.  It said the new high-capacity manufacturing plant “will likely be located” in the region where the first SMR-160s is deployed.  

The Holtec and Hyundai E&C team is being supported by Kiewit and Mitsubishi Electric.

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