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USP&E and BAM Energy have launched BridgePower Nuclear to transition Africa's mines, industrial plants and data centres from thermal power to modular nuclear power. From thermal to nuclear via a single contract B ridge Power Nuclear, a new joint venture designed to help large energy users bridge the gap between today’s urgent power needs and tomorrow’s
removes water consumption from the power conversion cycle changes the siting conversa- tion. It means modular nuclear power can be considered in regions where conventional water-cooled generation would be far harder to justify,” explains Leon Malan, Thermo-fluids and Numerics Engineer at BridgePower Nuclear. The technology also draws on South Africa’s historic leadership in pebble-bed modular reac- tor development. South Africa’s Pebble Bed Modular Reactor programme. “South Africa helped shape the original thinking around modular nuclear,” says Malan. “BridgePower Nuclear is about bringing that engineering lineage back to the African continent, but in a commercially practical model that starts with the power needs customers have today.” Founded in 2002, USP&E has delivered more than 30 power stations across more than 45 countries, serving mining, oil and gas, industrial, utility and data centre clients in chal- lenging operating environments. The company’s SmartPower predictive analytics platform is delivering a 26% reduction in downtime across monitored sites. BAM Energy contributes the modular nuclear pathway, the Pearl reactor platform and two decades of pebble-bed SMR development, targeting first deployment of the Pearl module in 2029, subject to customer agreements, site selection, regulatory approvals and project financing. The venture has been structured around sectors where the need for reliable power is immediate and commercially material, including mining operations, data centres and industrial plants that require uninterrupted, high-quality electricity at scale. Gruver says this makes mines, data centres and industrial operators the natural first cus - tomers for the BridgePower Nuclear model. “These are not speculative power users. These are large, energy-intensive operators whose output, revenue and growth are directly tied to reliable and affordable electricity. They already understand the cost of downtime. What they need now is a bankable power pathway that does not strand capital as the energy transition accelerates.” The BridgePower Nuclear model is designed to give lenders and customers a single long-term asset pathway: immediate dispatchable genera- tion first, followed by phased modular nuclear deployment once regulatory, technical and com- mercial milestones are met. “This is not nuclear as a distant policy aspiration,” says Gruver. “It is a power infrastructure model built around what Africa’s industrial economy needs now: reliabil- ity, speed, financeability and a credible path to clean baseload power,” concludes Gruver. https://www.powernuclear.com/
“African mines, industrials and data centre operators do not have the luxury of waiting for perfect grid conditions. They need firm power now, but they also need a credible pathway to lower-carbon baseload power before regula- tion, customers and capital markets force that transition for them. BridgePower Nuclear is designed to do both: deliver power today and create the bridge to modular nuclear power tomorrow.” Small modular reactors, or SMRs, are nuclear reactors generally designed to produce up to 300 MWe of electricity, using modular fac - tory fabrication to support shorter construc- tion timelines and more flexible deployment than conventional large-scale nuclear projects. The International Atomic Energy Agency has identified SMRs as an option for flexible power generation across a wider range of users and applications. BridgePower Nuclear’s proposed technol - ogy platform is the Pearl reactor, developed by BAM Energy. According to BAM Energy, Pearl has been designed to address three of the major barriers that have delayed many SMR pro- grammes: dependence on enriched or HALEU fuel (high-assay low-enriched uranium), heavy forgings, and complex on-site construction. Pearl reactors are designed to be factory-built and transported by road. They use a closed Brayton-cycle air turbine with zero water consumption for the power conversion cycle. “Many of Africa’s most power-constrained industrial and mining regions are also water- constrained. A reactor architecture that
lower-carbon baseload requirements. The launch comes at a time when reliable, affordable electricity is becoming one of the de- fining constraints on African industrial growth. Global demand for data infrastructure has exploded in the past 12 months. BridgePower Nuclear has been established to respond to this dual challenge: the immediate need for dispatchable, bankable power and the longer- term need for cleaner, lower-carbon baseload generation. BridgePower Nuclear aims to combine a near-term fuel-flexible thermal power block with a future small modular reactor pathway on the same site, under a single operator and a single power purchase agreement. The thermal phase is designed to be deployed within 12 to 24 months, using gas, diesel, HFO or dual-fuel generation depending on site requirements. From 2029, BridgePower Nuclear plans to phase in Pearl SMR modules, subject to cus- tomer agreements, site selection, regulatory ap- provals and project financing. The company says this would allow customers to transition from thermal generation to modular nuclear power without replacing the entire site, renegotiating the commercial structure or leaving critical operations exposed to power interruptions. Will Gruver, Chairman and Founder of USP&E, says the venture is designed around the practical realities facing African industry.
A generic illustration of a small modular light water nuclear reactor (SMR). Bridge Power Nuclear will use a Pearl SMR and a closed Brayton-cycle air turbine with zero water consumption for power conversion. Image: U.S. Government Accountability Office
44 ¦ MechChem Africa • July-August 2026
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