SALT LAKE CITY — The Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) being planned by Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) has reached a significant milestone. Participating members have executed power sales contracts totaling more than 150 megawatts of subscription in the project.

Reaching this subscription level triggers continued work and evaluation of the project, including increased focus on site characterization and preparation of a Combined License Application (COLA) for submittal to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The CFPP would be the nation’s first small modular nuclear reactor project, ushering in a new generation of smaller, safer, more flexible, less expensive, carbon-free nuclear energy. The project will include 12 individual 60-megawatt modules, producing a gross output of 720 megawatts of electricity.

The project is planned to be constructed at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) site near Idaho Falls. INL is the nation’s premier nuclear energy research and development facility, having hosted more than 50 nuclear reactors over the past 60 years. The project will provide more than 1,000 peak construction jobs and hundreds of permanent jobs. The Idaho Falls area provides a ready workforce.

UAMPS members have embraced the project as a key step toward decarbonizing their energy portfolios, while providing steady, resilient electricity to customers. A vital feature of CFPP is that its 12 small reactors would be flexible in dispatchable power output, allowing it to provide a steady, adjustable supply of carbon-free electricity that complements and enables large amounts of renewable energy, including wind and solar.

Achieving this milestone maintains the CFPP schedule to begin construction in 2023, with the first 60 MW module becoming operational in 2026. Other modules would come on-line soon thereafter. UAMPS will continue to work with its partners, including the U.S. Department of Energy, NuScale Power and INL, to prepare the COLA and move the project forward.

“I appreciate the hard work and oversight of the CFPP Project Management Committee, comprised of members participating in the project, along with the UAMPS staff and our partners, in reaching this milestone,” said Douglas Hunter, UAMPS CEO and general manager. “A project of this magnitude and importance requires a real team effort and we look forward to working with this team as we enter new and exciting phases of the project.”

Thirty-four of UAMPS members are participating in the project. As the project moves forward, opportunities will exist to exit the project, and opportunities will exist for others to join. UAMPs will continue to apply its economic competitiveness test to ensure the financial viability of the project.

UAMPS members seek balanced, diverse energy portfolios that ensure reliable, cost-effective energy under any circumstance. Carbon-free nuclear energy will be a small, but very important, part of the energy mix in these communities.

ABOUT UAMPS

Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems is an energy services interlocal agency of the State of Utah, established in 1980. As a project-based consortium, UAMPS provides a variety of power supply, transmission and other services to its 47 members, which include public power utilities in six western states: Utah, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming.