Steel & Mining firm ArcelorMittal invests $25M in next-gen Nuclear startup TerraPower

Steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal has invested $25 million in TerraPower, a startup focused on advanced reactor technologies, as part of the latter’s $830 million equity raise.

The investment was made through ArcelorMittal’s XCarb Innovation Fund, which was formed to supplement the firm’s decarbonization technology development program by investing in technologies with potential to help decarbonize the steel manufacturing process.

The XCarb Innovation Fund intends to invest in seven domains, including CCUS, long-duration and large-scale energy storage technologies, waste-to-gas technology, hydrogen technologies and gas transformation technologies.

“Having been in discussions with TerraPower for some time, we have been very impressed by the quality and ambition of the company’s technology and people,”

Founded by Bill Gates, TerraPower has been developing next-generation nuclear technologies since inception. Its flagship Natrium technology features a sodium fast reactor and a molten salt energy storage system, providing clean, flexible energy and facilitating the integration into the power grid.

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TerraPower is currently building its first Natrium reactor near a retiring coal plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. It is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. The plant will feature a 345 MWe sodium fast reactor and an energy storage system with an output of 500 MWe during peak periods.

The XCarb Innovation Fund has already invested $122.5 million in five companies, including Heliogen, Form Energy, LanzaTech, H2Pro and TerraPower.

ArcelorMittal is an anchor partner in Breakthrough Energy’s Catalyst Program, which combines public and private finance for investment in decarbonisation technologies, namely direct air capture, green hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuel and long-duration energy storage. As the anchor partner of the Catalyst Program, ArcelorMittal has committed to make an equity investment of $100 million over five years. Breakthrough Energy was founded by Bill Gates.