Developers who control their own generation, whether gas, nuclear at Comanche Peak (Amazon/Vistra), or molten salt at Abilene (Natura Resources, $240M), will outpace those still waiting on interconnection.
The NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board granted an intervention petition against Natura Resources' Texas SMR project this month, a procedural setback that could delay timelines.
In the Permian Basin, Natura Resources (holding the first federal construction permit for a liquid-fueled molten salt reactor) is partnering with NGL Water Solutions to pair a 100-MWe reactor with thermal desalination of produced water, a power-and-water play targeting Texas's twin bottlenecks.