US-based Last Energy plans to build 30 micro-reactors in Haskell County, Texas to serve American data centre customers. The company, founded in 2019, has raised capital totalling $64m to fund the development of a 20 MWe modular micro-reactor, the PWR-20, designed to be fabricated, transported, and assembled within 24 months, and is sized to serve private industrial customers.
Last Energy says it will own and operate the plant on the customer’s site, “bypassing the decade-long development timelines of electric transmission grid upgrade requirements”.
The company has obtained site control in Texas, has already filed for a grid connection with ERCOT (the Electric Reliability Council of Texas) and is preparing to file for an Early Site Permit with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Last Energy Founder & CEO Bret Kugelmass: “Nuclear power is the most effective way to meet Texas’s demand, but our solution – plug-and-play micro-reactors, designed for scalability and siting flexibility – is the best way to meet it quickly.”
Last Energy is responding to the demand from Texas-based data centre developers. Of the company’s existing commercial agreements, which, it says entail the delivery of over 80 micro-reactors across Europe, half will serve data centres. The Texas manufacturing site would increase the company’s development capacity by another 30 units, and enable the development of a commercial pipeline throughout the US.
Texas is currently home to over 340 data centres with a combined demand of nearly 8 GW, making up 9% of all Texas electricity demand. In the Dallas-Fort Worth region alone, data centres are expected to drive an additional 43 GWe of demand.
Last Energy has built two full-scale prototypes in Texas with local manufacturing partners, and is exploring projects in Utah. The company has also secured its first full load of fuel, scheduled to arrive in September 2026.
The UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation has confirmed that Last Energy has entered the ONR nuclear site licensing process with plans to develop four 20 MWe micro-reactors in South Wales.
