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The U.S. will need at least 10 GW of additional large nuclear capacity in the coming years to supply surging energy demand while also meeting climate goals, Southern Co. (NYSE:SO) CEO Chris Womack said Thursday at the Reuters Global Energy Transition conference.
The typical reactor in the U.S. produces ~1 GW of electricity, according to the Department of Energy, so 10 GW would be the equivalent of building roughly 10 new nuclear reactors.
Building new nuclear plants is expensive, and the permitting and construction process is time consuming; the new reactors that Southern (SO) built at its Plant Vogtle in Georgia opened seven years behind schedule and cost more than $30B, at least double the original projections.
Therefore, government incentives, including providing cost-overrun insurance, will be needed to boost the U.S. nuclear industry, Womack said, adding that other industries also will need to invest to expand nuclear, particularly new technologies such as small modular reactors.
Southern (SO) is seeing a level of electricity demand it has not faced since the advent of air conditioning and heat pumps, the CEO said, adding that the company now expects demand to increase by 3x-4x after two decades of nearly flat power growth.
“A lot of this is dependent and contingent upon what we see with artificial intelligence and all those large learning models and what data centers will consume,” Womack said. “You’re also seeing in the Southeast, this incredible population growth and you’re seeing all this onshoring with manufacturing.”
