Amazon invests in nuclear energy project targeting nearly 1 gigawatt of carbon-free energy for Indiana

Key takeaways

• Amazon is funding a nuclear energy plant in Indiana targeting 960 megawatts of carbon-free energy.
• It’s the second project in Amazon and X-energy's collaboration to add more than 5 gigawatts of U.S. nuclear energy by 2039.
• The project could create more than 1,000 construction jobs and more than 100 permanent roles.

Amazon, X-energy, and American Electric Power (AEP) have signed an agreement to explore deploying X-energy’s small modular reactor (SMR) technology in Indiana. Under the agreement, the three companies will target building 12 of X-energy's Xe-100 SMRs, which would add 960 megawatts (MW) of new, carbon-free energy that would serve both the regional power grid and Amazon’s data centers.

Amazon is serving as a project development funder and would be the first customer to purchase power from the plant once operational.

This marks the second project under Amazon and X-energy’s collaboration that aims to add more than 5 gigawatts (GW) of new nuclear capacity to the U.S. grid by 2039, following the Cascade Advanced Energy Facility in Washington state. This collaboration will help meet Indiana’s growing energy demand with safe, reliable, carbon-free power.

Why Amazon is investing in nuclear energy

Demand for electricity is growing—driven by electrification, manufacturing, and the rapid expansion of AI—and the world needs new sources of carbon-free energy that can run around the clock. Advanced nuclear technology like X-energy’s Xe-100 is designed to deliver just that.

A cutaway of X-energy's TRISO-X fuel, which encases uranium in layers of high-temperature ceramic. TRISO fuel is described by the U.S. Department of Energy as the "most robust nuclear fuel on earth" for its ability to withstand extreme temperatures without melting.

The Xe-100 is an 80 MW high-temperature gas-cooled reactor that uses helium as a coolant and is powered by TRISO fuel—described by the U.S. Department of Energy as the “most robust nuclear fuel on Earth” for its ability to withstand extreme temperatures beyond any credible accident scenario. By design, the helium coolant and TRISO fuel create a structure where the reactor's physics prevent a meltdown without requiring active systems or human intervention to ensure safety. These safety mechanisms and the reactor’s compact footprint mean it can be built closer to where power is needed.

Power plants that use the Xe-100 also have flexibility when it comes to cooling—they can use air-cooled condensers, water-cooled systems, or a hybrid approach, depending on site conditions. This means reactors can be tailored to local resource availability, supporting deployment in water-constrained regions without competing with other community members.

Building on the Amazon and X-energy partnership

X-energy's Xe-100, an 80-megawatt high-temperature, gas-cooled small modular reactor. Amazon anchored X-energy's 2024 financing round to help complete the reactor's design and fuel facility.

Amazon’s relationship with X-energy began through the Climate Pledge Fund—Amazon’s $2 billion venture investment program supporting its commitment to reaching net-zero carbon by 2040. Amazon led X-energy’s Series C-1 financing round in 2024, which ultimately closed at $700 million, to fund the completion of X-energy’s reactor design and licensing as well as the first phase of its TRISO-X fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

That investment came alongside a goal to deploy more than 5 GW of new nuclear capacity in the U.S. by 2039, in collaboration with regional utilities. Amazon will serve as the first offtake customer—providing the demand signal that makes these projects viable and accelerating the path to new carbon-free power for the grid.

AEP and its Indiana Michigan Power utility have operated a nuclear power plant for more than 50 years, making them an ideal facility operator. Combined with X-energy’s advanced reactor technology and Amazon’s long-term commitment to carbon-free energy procurement, the partnership is designed to deliver reliable, affordable, carbon-free power to Indiana communities and businesses for decades.

How does Amazon’s nuclear investment benefit Indiana?

A rendering of the proposed Indiana plant, which would target 960 megawatts of carbon-free capacity on the site of the former coal-fueled Breed Generating Station site in Sullivan County.

The proposed plant could add up to 960 MW of new carbon-free capacity in AEP’s Indiana service territory, helping keep the regional power grid reliable. The project would also redevelop the former site of the coal-fueled Breed Generating Station. Overall, this facility would have the potential to create more than 1,000 construction jobs and more than 100 permanent jobs.

The announcement builds on Amazon’s commitment to building, growing, and investing in Indiana‘s energy infrastructure for the long term without passing costs on to local residents and businesses.

Earlier this year, Amazon signed the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge, committing to pay the full electricity costs of serving our data centers, including paying for additional infrastructure, without passing costs to others. That commitment is already showing results across Amazon’s utility partnerships in Indiana, including with AEP. The utility announced a plan to lower residential rates by $100 starting in 2027 and freeze them for three years, following an average 3.6% base rate reduction for utility bills in June 2026, driven by increased revenue from large customers like Amazon. Rather than raising bills, Amazon’s presence is helping to create pathways to bring them down.

In total, Amazon's investments have already supported carbon-free projects that have contributed $160 million to Indiana's GDP from 2023 through 2025, supporting more than 100 jobs every year and contributing more than $11 million in tax revenue.

These partnerships show that large-scale energy investment, ratepayer protection, and economic growth can go hand in hand—and that Amazon’s growth in Indiana is designed to benefit the communities where we operate.