A developer is proposing to build an advanced nuclear energy project in Amherst County that would provide up to 650 megawatts of power.
Representatives with Charlotte, North Carolina-based Geenex Power briefly appeared at Tuesday’s meeting of the Amherst County Board of Supervisors to announce the Beck Creek Energy project and its informational website, BeckCreekEnergy.com.
The representatives — Delany Bolton, project development manager, and Chris Hallameyer, director of external affairs — said the company plans to hold a series of community meetings in the coming months.
“We’re committed to meeting people and fostering open, transparent dialogue as the project advances,” Hallameyer told the board.
The project would use small modular reactors, or SMRs, which, as the name suggests, are designed to be smaller than traditional nuclear reactors and to be built using multiple units at a single site to scale up power as needed.
It would provide “reliable, clean, carbon-free electricity to support a resilient electric grid,” according to a news release Tuesday from Geenex.
In the release, Geenex emphasized that the project is still in an early evaluation stage, with various studies underway, and that “community input will play an important role as the company continues its assessment of the proposed site and works closely with local stakeholders.”
In a phone interview on Tuesday, Bolton described Geenex as an “early-stage energy developer” that has been in business for about 15 years.
“We’re here in the local communities and at the state level, working to get these sites permitted, and then we will partner with a technology partner who will actually design and license and operate the nuclear reactor,” Bolton said.
Project’s precise location remains under wraps
Bolton declined to specify the exact location of the proposed Beck Creek Energy project, saying that the company has an option with the landowner and wants to “protect and respect their wishes.”
“As we progress farther, we will obviously be more transparent and open with where this project is once we’ve finalized a couple more of these early stage, due-diligence surveys,” she said.
Bolton said the site is in Amherst County’s District 1, which covers much of the eastern side of the county.
She said it would be near Appalachian Power’s Joshua Falls substation, which is across the James River in Campbell County, just a few miles outside Lynchburg.
Geenex chose the site in part because of its access to a high-voltage 138-kilovolt transmission line that connects to the substation and could handle the proposed power capacity, Bolton said.
Geenex’s news release stated that it chose Amherst County because of “the area’s robust infrastructure, including access to electric transmission networks, transportation assets and a large, skilled workforce capable of supporting both construction and long-term plant operations.”
Hallameyer said the site likely will require a rezoning from the Amherst County Board of Supervisors.
While the project is called Beck Creek Energy, Bolton said it would not pull water from Beck Creek, which is a stream that connects to the James River in the Galts Mill area in southeastern Amherst County.
“It’s going to be located near the James River, but I wouldn’t say that it is going to be on Beck Creek. It’s more of a local name for the project,” she said.
Asked if the power project would draw water from the James River, Bolton said, “We’re still early in these environmental studies. Because we don’t have that technology partner, I hesitate to say anything specific on where the water is going to come from at this time.”
Announcement is first of multiple steps
Geenex officials began looking at Amherst County as a prospective location around the beginning of the year.
Bolton said that Geenex plans to submit a local permitting application for Beck Creek Energy in 2027.
It also will require approval from Virginia and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Construction likely would start in the early 2030s, Bolton said.
No commercial SMR has yet been built in the U.S., although several proposals are in the works in Virginia and elsewhere.
Dominion Energy has said it’s exploring the possibility of building an SMR in Louisa County, at its North Anna Power Station.
[Disclosure: Dominion is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]
Appalachian Power is in a pre-application period with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for an SMR at its Joshua Falls site.
Last month, the NRC approved a construction permit for the Tennessee Valley Authority to build a 300-megawatt SMR at its Clinch River site. The NRC said that will be the first commercial SMR in the U.S.
Exactly how the Amherst County project would get to its “up to 650 megawatts” of power generation depends on its final design.
“It could look like one reactor. It could look like a set of reactors,” Bolton said. “And that just depends on the technology. But fundamentally the concept doesn’t change, whether it’s one or a set of reactors.”
For context, a larger traditional nuclear reactor is often around 1,000 megawatts. Dominion Energy’s North Anna Power Station in Louisa County uses two nuclear units that together total about 1,900 megawatts.
Geenex’s news release said that Beck Creek Energy will “generate significant new revenue for Amherst County and create hundreds of permanent, high-quality jobs.”
“The development would provide long-term economic benefits through substantial new tax revenues that can help support local services, schools, public safety and infrastructure investments while also creating new career opportunities for residents,” the release states.
The news release states that Geenex plans “community information sessions, coffee discussions, lunch-and-learn events, stakeholder meetings and public forums.”
“Our goal is to be transparent from the beginning and create meaningful opportunities for Amherst County residents to ask questions, share perspectives, and stay informed as we evaluate the Beck Creek Energy project,” Bolton said in the news release.
Megan Lucas, CEO and chief economic development officer of the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance, said in a phone interview that the alliance is working with Geenex to finalize a date, possibly next month, for the first informational open house at the alliance in Lynchburg.
“We support any business that’s looking to relocate, grow and expand in the Lynchburg region,” Lucas said.
When Bolton and Hallameyer appeared Tuesday afternoon before the board of supervisors, they weren’t on the board’s agenda.
Instead, they gave their overview during a regular open comment period, in which anyone can speak for up to three minutes.
Hallameyer said in the interview that it marked the first time that Geenex told the board about the project, and that was a deliberate choice.
“We wanted to make sure that we introduced ourselves at the same time to the board and to the people,” Hallameyer said. “We thought that was the best way to go about doing it.”
After Bolton and Hallameyer concluded their remarks, none of the supervisors commented or asked questions. Supervisor Tom Martin, who represents District 1, did not respond to an email late Tuesday from Cardinal News seeking comment.
