Hyundai E&C signed Korea's first contract to build a large nuclear power plant in the United States, firing the starting gun for activating a Korea-U.S. nuclear cooperation framework.
Hyundai E&C said on the 26th that on the 24th at its headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul, it signed a front-end engineering design (FEED) services contract with Fermi America for the construction of four large nuclear power plants within a "complex energy and artificial intelligence (AI) campus."
The contract signing ceremony was held with key officials from both companies in attendance, including Lee Han-woo, Hyundai E&C's CEO, and Mesut Uzman, CEO of Fermi Nuclear.
Right after the contract was signed, Lee met in Hong Kong with Toby Neugebauer, CEO of Fermi America, to discuss plans to swiftly advance EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) for the large nuclear plants and ways to cooperate across the overall project.
The "complex energy and AI campus" is the world's largest private power grid complex being developed by U.S. energy developer Fermi America on a site of about 21.19 million square meters on the outskirts of Amarillo, Texas. Hyundai E&C said the plan envisions a total 11 GW independent power supply infrastructure that combines ▲ four AP1000 large nuclear units (4 GW) ▲ SMRs (2 GW) ▲ gas combined-cycle power (4 GW) ▲ solar and battery energy storage systems (1 GW), along with the phased implementation of an ultra-large hyperscale AI data center linked to this power. ▲
Based on this contract, Hyundai E&C will carry out the basic design for the first phase of constructing four large nuclear units, including ▲ developing the site layout plan ▲ reviewing cooling methods ▲ calculating budget and schedule. Since signing a memorandum of understanding in July for joint development of the project, the two companies have continued discussions from planning hybrid energy based on nuclear power to basic design and EPC. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is currently reviewing the combined license. Hyundai E&C plans to proceed with detailed discussions with the goal of signing the EPC contract in the first half of next year, while conducting the basic design in parallel with preparations for the main construction.
Amid rapid growth in the U.S. nuclear industry under policies to strengthen U.S. energy security, Hyundai E&C is the first Korean company to sign a performance contract for a U.S. large nuclear construction project. A Hyundai E&C official said, "It is significant in that we have laid the groundwork to solidify our position in the U.S. nuclear market based on our nuclear construction capability, the only one in nuclear construction history to achieve 'on time, on budget' (completion on schedule within the set budget)."
A Hyundai E&C official said, "We expect to create synergy in pioneering the U.S. nuclear construction market with Fermi America, which has strong momentum, including listings on Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange in early October," adding, "This contract is an important achievement that proves Hyundai E&C is a trusted nuclear partner in the global energy market."