Blue Energy, a US-based company specialising in nuclear power plants, has completed a $45m Series A fundraising round co-led by Engine Ventures and At One Ventures.

The funding involved contributions from capital firms Angular Ventures, Tamarack Global, Propeller Ventures, Starlight Ventures and Nucleation Capital.

The company plans to use the funding to advance its core engineering work and site development, and secure additional partnerships.

The company also introduced its modular, reactor-agnostic power plant architecture that can be manufactured in existing shipyards.

The company expects this method to transform the nuclear power industry by reducing capital costs from $10K per kilowatt (kW) to $2K/kW, and shortening build times from ten years to just two.

Blue Energy CEO Jake Jurewicz stated: “Blue Energy is addressing the biggest obstacles to wide adoption of nuclear power: cost and build time. Using the traditional approach, it takes thousands of workers several years to construct nuclear power plants on site. We’ve designed a modular plant that can be fully prefabricated centrally in shipyards and transported to its operating location.

“By moving nuclear power to preexisting assembly lines, Blue Energy is radically reducing build time and cost, making nuclear power cost competitive with fossil fuels and renewables.”

The use of shipyard manufacturing not only slashes costs and timelines but also positions nuclear power as an economically viable alternative to fossil fuels and renewables.

The company's strategy to partner with reactor vendors allows it to leverage existing regulatory progress and expedite the market introduction of its modular nuclear power plant.

Engine Ventures general partner and Blue Energy board member Michael Kearney stated: “By integrating with established reactor vendors, and existing centralised manufacturing techniques, the Blue Energy development platform unlocks low-cost economics that can rapidly scale to serve the growing demand for clean, firm power."

The company has already signed a letter of intent with a data centre and cloud provider, which will serve as the off-taker for the first plant, marking a significant step towards commercialisation.