Terra Innovatum (NASDAQ: NKLR) has signed a multi-year agreement with Howden Turbo GmbH, a division of Chart Industries, for the supply of steam turbines and generators for its SOLO micro-modular platform. The deal covers secondary-circuit equipment from the first commercial unit through subsequent deployments worldwide.
The SOLO is a 1 MWe helium-cooled microreactor fueled by UO2 pellets in Zircaloy cladding enriched to 4.95% U235 — the same fuel used in large light water reactors — and designed to operate autonomously for 15 years without refueling. The entire reactor fits inside a standard 2.4×2.4×12-meter shipping container, making it genuinely transportable and deployable anywhere without dedicated infrastructure. Howden’s technology has been adapted to SOLO’s specifications, and both companies are now working to standardize turbine integration, reduce manufacturing lead times, and develop modular configurations for larger installations. Multiple SOLO units connected to a shared turbine platform can reach outputs between 3 and 15 MWe, suitable for data centers, industrial facilities, and distributed energy systems.
The first commercial site — known as the FOAK (First-of-a-Kind) — has already been selected: the Rock City Admiral Parkway Development complex in Illinois, with startup targeted by 2027. Terra Innovatum has already signed non-binding memoranda of understanding for a total of 100 SOLO units globally, with broad commercial rollout set for 2028. The Howden agreement strengthens the industrial supply chain needed to make that goal credible. Securing long-lead components early is now a decisive factor for anyone seeking to bring an advanced reactor to market ahead of the competition.
Terra Innovatum’s path has been built step by step. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been engaged in pre-licensing activities with the company since January 2025. In parallel, an agreement with ATB Riva Calzoni — an Italian nuclear component manufacturer — covers engineering, manufacturing, and commissioning of the FOAK unit. More recently, a MOU with Baker Hughes opened the door to evaluating supercritical CO2 power cycles to boost energy conversion efficiency: preliminary studies suggest the possibility of increasing per-unit output from 1 MWe to approximately 1.25 MWe. Howden joins this network as the dedicated turbomachinery partner for the steam cycle, within a strategy that deliberately avoids reliance on a single supplier and instead distributes expertise across multiple established industrial players.
With the supply chain taking shape and the number of MOUs growing, Illinois 2027 is no longer just a target on paper. If the FOAK comes online on schedule, Terra Innovatum will have demonstrated something few in the microreactor sector have yet achieved: bringing a gas-cooled reactor from design to commercial operation in under a decade, using standard fuel and industrial components already available on the market.
