M&A moves

Dallas-area business to acquire Houston renewable energy co.

Houston renewables company Proteus Power is getting acquired. Photo via

Houston-based developer of utility-scale renewable energy Proteus Power is being acquired by JBB Advanced Technologies for an undisclosed amount after founder, chairman, and CEO, John B. Billingsley signed a letter of intent to purchase.

"I know the potential of renewable energy, both for our country and for the small landowners and communities we work with," Billingsley says in a news release. "Proteus Power is just the type of company I have known and grown in the past, and we're perfectly positioned to make it a very profitable company for our investors. In the near term, this very substantial business will provide a multi-billion-dollar boost to the Texas economy, from Lubbock to Midland, across West Texas and down to the Gulf Coast."

Proteus Power currently incorporates a total of 15.5 gigawatts of utility-scale renewable energy projects, which include utility-scale solar and battery energy storage systems. Nearly 5 gigawatts of both utility-scale solar and battery energy storage should be developed at an estimated EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) cost of $3.38 billion over the next four years.

Proteus Power projects also include multiple independent system operators: ERCOT West, ERCOT Houston, ERCOT North, ERCOT South, Miso LA/MS, Miso Illinois, Miso Texas, and SPP South.

Billingsley, who launched one of the nation's largest renewable energy companies, Tri Global Energy, with the purchase of Proteus Power, continues JBB’s efforts for “clean, affordable solar energy systems to commercial concerns” according to the company.

Proteus Power headquarters in Houston will move to JBB Advanced Technologies' headquarters in Carrollton, Texas, with all current employees being retained, pending the final acquisition, which is expected in the fourth quarter of 2024.A branch office is also planned to be located in Lubbock, Texas.

"The Proteus Power development team is clearly among the best in the renewable industry today," Billingsley adds. "The company has thrived under the leadership of Chief Development Officer Dan Phillips, and we at JBBAT are fortunate to inherit such a strong team to work with us as we move forward to jump back in the energy transition."

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A View From HETI

The project would nearly eliminate the emissions associated with power and steam generation at the Dow plant in Seadrift, Texas. Getty Images

Dow, a major producer of chemicals and plastics, wants to use next-generation nuclear reactors for clean power and steam at a Texas manufacturing complex instead of natural gas.

Dow's subsidiary, Long Mott Energy, applied Monday to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a construction permit. It said the project with X-energy, an advanced nuclear reactor and fuel company, would nearly eliminate the emissions associated with power and steam generation at its plant in Seadrift, Texas, avoiding roughly 500,000 metric tons of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions annually.

If built and operated as planned, it would be the first U.S. commercial advanced nuclear power plant for an industrial site, according to the NRC.

For many, nuclear power is emerging as an answer to meet a soaring demand for electricity nationwide, driven by the expansion of data centers and artificial intelligence, manufacturing and electrification, and to stave off the worst effects of a warming planet. However, there are safety and security concerns, the Union of Concerned Scientists cautions. The question of how to store hazardous nuclear waste in the U.S. is unresolved, too.

Dow wants four of X-energy's advanced small modular reactors, the Xe-100. Combined, those could supply up to 320 megawatts of electricity or 800 megawatts of thermal power. X-energy CEO J. Clay Sell said the project would demonstrate how new nuclear technology can meet the massive growth in electricity demand.

The Seadrift manufacturing complex, at about 4,700 acres, has eight production plants owned by Dow and one owned by Braskem. There, Dow makes plastics for a variety of uses including food and beverage packaging and wire and cable insulation, as well as glycols for antifreeze, polyester fabrics and bottles, and oxide derivatives for health and beauty products.

Edward Stones, the business vice president of energy and climate at Dow, said submitting the permit application is an important next step in expanding access to safe, clean, reliable, cost-competitive nuclear energy in the United States. The project is supported by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.

The NRC expects the review to take three years or less. If a permit is issued, construction could begin at the end of this decade, so the reactors would be ready early in the 2030s, as the natural gas-fired equipment is retired.

A total of four applicants have asked the NRC for construction permits for advanced nuclear reactors. The NRC issued a permit to Abilene Christian University for a research reactor and to Kairos Power for one reactor and two reactor test versions of that company's design. It's reviewing an application by Bill Gates and his energy company, TerraPower, to build an advanced reactor in Wyoming.

X-energy is also collaborating with Amazon to bring more than 5 gigawatts of new nuclear power projects online across the United States by 2039, beginning in Washington state. Amazon and other tech giants have committed to using renewable energy to meet the surging demand from data centers and artificial intelligence and address climate change.

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