Corporate Venture Capital and Nuclear Power
Venture capital and infrastructure finance seldom have direct ties. Differences in expected returns, divergent investment timelines, and opposing capital structures often keep the two separate. Yet Amazon has structured a venture investment with strategic infrastructure funding to drive sustainable, reliable nuclearpower to power their growing electricity demand.
Series C-1 Investment in X-energy: Amazon recently led the Series C-1 round for X-energy, providing capital to scale the development of its Xe-100 small modular reactors (SMRs). SMRs have received significant attention to power high demand industries, especially with announcements from datacenter customers such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.
Funding Feasibility Studies: Beyond equity investment, Amazon is directly funding the feasibility phase of a SMR project using the Xe-100, sited near Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station. This early support reduces risk at a critical juncture—the point where many infrastructure projects stall.
Anchor Purchasing Agreement: Amazon has also secured the rights to the first 320 MW of power from the project once operational. This potential purchase agreement anchors the project’s bankability and signals confidence to both partners and lenders, mitigating future risks and establishing a path to long-term financial stability.
By investing in its supply chain, Amazon is not only accelerating the deployment of a new clean energy source but also lowering risk for its partners during the most uncertain stages of infrastructure development. This multi-layered approach—blending venture equity with infrastructure commitments—creates a win-win scenario:
1. X-energy benefits from deep capital to scale innovation.
2. Energy Northwest can move forward with an ambitious project that might have otherwise struggled to secure financing.
3. Amazon secures reliable, carbon-free power to align with its Climate Pledge goals while securing reliable power for its operations.
