NuScale Power Corporation Class A

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Newskill's fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings results conference call. Today's call is being recorded. All participants are in a listen-only mode. After management's prepared remarks, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question at this time, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A replay of today's conference call will be available and accessible on Newskill's website at .newskillpower.com. The web replay will be available for 30 days following the earnings call. At this time for opening remarks, I would like to turn the call over to Scott Kozak, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead Mr. Kozak.

Thank you, operator. Welcome to Newskill's fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings results conference call. With us today are John Hopkins, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Ramsey Hamadie, Chief Financial Officer. On today's call, Newskill will provide an update on our business and discuss financial results. We will then open the phone lines for questions. This afternoon we posted a set of supplemental slides on our Investor Relations website. As reflected in the safe harbor statements on slide 2, the information set forth in the presentation and discussed during the course of our remarks in the subsequent Q&A session includes forward-looking statements which reflect our current views of existing trends and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties. You can find a discussion of our risk factors which could potentially contribute to such differences in our Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings. I'll now turn the call over to John Hopkins, Newskill's President and Chief Executive Officer. John?

Thank you, Scott, and good afternoon everyone. Reflected on 2024, our journey has been dynamic and rewarding, and I'm delighted by our achievements. We have significantly bolstered our financial standing, advanced the commercialization of our pioneering small modular reactor technology, and laid the groundwork for sustainable long-term value creation. Shortly, Ramsey will provide insights into our financials. I'd like to start with key business updates. As illustrated on slide 3, we are witnessing good progress for willpower. As you may recall, Willpower plans to develop a 6th Module SMR Power Plant with a 462 MW of installed capacity on the site of a decommissioned coal-fired power plant in Dorchester. Newskill is committed to supporting Romania's energy security and decarbonization initiatives. We are diligently progressing our responsibilities for Willpower Phase 2 funding engineering design. This floor-led feed, Phase 2, provides meaningful revenue and cash flow for Newskill. Moving on to slide 4, it's essential to emphasize that Newskill stands as the sole near-term deployable SMR currently available. In contrast, other recently announced SMR projects in the U.S. are focused on demonstration plants. Following construction, these demonstration plants will have to operate for a minimum of 4 years prior to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC, providing regulatory approval, which is required for commercial operation. Newskill has committed over $2 billion to develop and license our unique SMR technology, which has received design certification from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. No other advanced reactor SMR design has submitted a standard design approval application, or SDA, to the NRC at this point, and these efforts remain years away from approval compared to our established timeline. InterOne energy plants powered by Newskill technology are primed for immediate commercial development. We're also making headway on a technology review of our operated SDA application with the NRC, aiming to increase power output per module from our previously NRC licensed 50 megawatt electric to 77 megawatt electric. This review is set to conclude by mid-2025. Our design upgrade is founded on the same rigorous safety principles and technical features already authenticated by the NRC in 2020. We believe that the 77 megawatt electric Newskill power module will cater to a broader spectrum of customers while enhancing economic efficiency. Now let's turn our attention to manufacturing. Newskill is clearly leading the industry in this critical element of commercialization. Our supply chain partner and strategic investor Doosan Interability has continued to make progress advancing the first six Newskill power modules, the only NRC approved SMRs in production. More recently, this past quarter, in coordination with Doosan and our development partner, InterOne Energy, advanced discussions with prospective customers seeking 12 module configurations led us to long lead material items for an additional six modules. Newskill has 12 modules in production, a testament to the confidence we have in our customer pipeline and our commitment to 2030 delivery. We are advancing certain activities in manufacturing licensing to get ahead of potential bottlenecks and commercial deployable schedules. For example, global manufacturer ALIMA recently received an order to supply steam generator tubes for Newskill small module reactors. On slide five, there are images associated with our manufacturing progress. This includes the production of large forgings and the maturing of our control rod drive mechanism design. Key lessons from our manufacturing readiness work are incorporated into design to save time during production work and support deployment, shortening delivery schedules significantly. Coupled with our InterOne development partnership, Newskill's SMR technology is poised to move the exploding demand for clean energy across multiple sectors. As illustrated on slide six, near-term energy demand in the US is expected to grow at levels we haven't seen in decades. A recent IHS energy forecast anticipates a six-times increase in growth for electricity demand in the next 20 years versus the growth of the prior 20 years. This significantly accelerated rate of electricity consumption in the coming decades will fundamentally change the landscape of power production. The projected growth spans various sectors and is driven by the reshoring of manufacturing and electrification of many industries, including oil and gas and chemicals. However, the primary driver is a 24-7 load required by artificial intelligence data centers. According to a December 2024 US Department of Energy report, data centers may triple their energy to use in the next three years alone. Under that forecast, data centers could account for as much as 12% of the nation's electricity consumption by 2028. The world's largest technology companies are driving this need. Microsoft announced that it would spend approximately $80 billion in its 2025 fiscal year to build data centers for its booming artificial intelligence business. In addition, in December, Meta announced that it is seeking up to 4 gigawatts of new nuclear to help meet the company's AI and sustainability objectives. It's worth emphasizing that this is not about peaking demand. Data centers have both high capacity demand and high energy demand. So the challenge is multifaceted. Significant new energy sources are needed, both to produce enough power when use is at highest and to support sustained heavy levels of energy consumption over long duration. Yet as seen in slide seven, the megawatts currently coming online in the US are mainly intermittent sources and short duration battery storage. Looking more closely at 2025, planned capacity additions for three major US grid operators include very limited dispatchable generation. Coupled with the reality of additional fossil fuel retirements, it is clear where nuclear and SMARS in particular can be a major game changer. We see massive opportunity to provide baseload clean energy. You cannot run a full time grid on part time power. It is important to bear in mind that existing utilities are challenged to divert useless load from existing customers. In an era where more energy is necessary to fortify the US electricity grid, power economic growth and bolster America's global competitiveness, the need for new nuclear is a reality. And entities throughout our economy are taking notice. As we discussed in the past two slides, the demand for nuclear has never been more pronounced. As viewed on slide eight, new scale is seeing increased interest across the board from a variety of potential off takers for different use cases. On the data center side, our commercialization partner, InterOne, is leading discussions with America's leading hyperscalers at the most senior levels. And conversations are focused on powering AI. These executives understand how attractive our site boundary, emergency planning zone, is enabling us to locate close to the end user. They also appreciate our off grid capabilities. Critically, given the speed for which they need power, prospective customers recognize that new scale is years ahead of other proposed SMR technologies. And they are attracted to InterOne Energy's commercial model, which is structured to provide financial flexibility and mitigate deployment risk. Notably, conversations with hyperscalers are also driving increased engagement from the utilities that currently power them. Importantly, InterOne provides utilities to commercial consumers with a solution to get SMR generated energy off take without the need to capitalize, own or operate a nuclear energy power plant. Switching gears for a minute, even as we drive our commercial initiatives, new scale has not stopped innovating. As an example, our Chief Technology Officer and co-founder, Dr. Jose Reyes, recently published a white paper illustrating why new scale is well positioned to benefit from the January 2025 Department of Treasury final regulations meant to boost domestic production of clean hydrogen fuel through tax credits. As noted on slide nine, this credit is worth up to $3 per kilogram of hydrogen production for those that can qualify, for example, by using new scale. For over a decade, we have been exploring new hydrogen technologies with industrial partners in national labs that integrate a new scale plant with high temperature and high pressure steam electrolyzers with the end goal of decarbonizing this important sector. Before I turn the call over to Ramsey, I want to touch on a few factors that we view as positive for new scale. First, while advanced nuclear has long enjoyed bipartisan support, we are pleased by the new administration's enthusiasm and sense of urgency for new nuclear. Recently, confirmed Energy Secretary Chris Wright has a deep understanding of the nuclear sector, committing that he wants to make it easier to research, invest, and build small large reactors. In addition, a few weeks ago, President Trump established the National Energy Dominance Council led by Secretary of Interior Borrelim and Energy Secretary Wright. Within a 100-day timeframe, the Council will advise on how best to improve processes for permitting, production, generation, transportation, and export of all forms of American energy. This will also include actions that each agency can take to increase energy production. Importantly, the executive order specifically prioritizes bringing small large reactors online. This effort is a strong step towards securing our energy future and ensuring the U.S. has the resources to meet demands that AI will place on our grid. Second, as we've discussed at length, our competitive strengths. Whether it's industrial electrification, process heat, or the rapidly escalating demand for the data economy, the reliable clean energy produced by New Scale's SMR technology plays a critical part in the energy solution of the future. Moreover, we are not burdened by the additional hurdles faced by non-light water reactor SMR technologies. So-called Generation 4 SMR technologies require high assay, low enriched uranium fuel, or HALU. Today, there is no supply chain for HALU. This fuel is not commercially available and production efforts are impeded by national security concerns. Given global diplomatic efforts to prevent proliferation in the absence of substantive recent investment, many experts believe HALU technologies could be a decade, if not more, away from commercialization. Lastly, I cannot end without emphasizing the incredible interest and demand for the technological and safety benefits of New Scale's SMR. Potential customers understand and appreciate what sets New Scale apart. Including our partnership with InterOne Energy. I'm proud of where we are and I'm looking forward to updating you on our progress over the course of 2025. Now, over to Ramsey for the financial update.

Thank you, John. And hello, everyone. Our financial results are available in our files. So my focus will be on explaining major line items. As seen on slide 10, I'll start by discussing our financial results. All figures following are for Q4 2024, unless I state otherwise. New Scale's cash position grew substantially during the period. Ending the fourth quarter with cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments of $446.7 million, compared to $125.4 million at the end of 2023. New Scale's significantly improved liquidity position provides a strong foundation for development and our push towards commercialization of our industry-leading NRC-approved technology. In Q4 2024, New Scale issued a mandatory redemption of warrants, triggering conversions among warrenholders, which generated proceeds of $205.3 million in the quarter, or total cash proceeds of $227.7 million since issuance. In addition to buttressing our balance sheet, the elimination of warrants greatly reduces earnings volatility by eliminating the non-cash impact of those derivative liabilities in our income statement. New Scale's cash position at the year-end 2024 provides a company with significant resources and time to achieve our goals. We will utilize these resources to support commercialization activities, such as further development of our supply chain and bolstering manufacturing preparedness, including the production of our first 12 modules. We will also continue to nurture and mature our research development efforts to support the next generation of New Scale innovation. For the fourth quarter, end of December 31, 2024, New Scale reported revenue of $34.2 million and a net loss of $188.3 million. Revenue in the quarter is driven by payments for activities in support of real powers development of their power plants. The loss includes a non-cash expense of $170 million related to the increase in fair value importance. During the same period of the prior year, the company reported revenue of $4.6 million and net loss of $56.4 million, which included non-cash income of $6.5 million related to our warrants. For the full year of 2024, New Scale's revenue was $37 million and a net loss was $348.4 million, with $223 million of that loss relating to accounting treatment, once again within the fair value of the warrants. Q4 2024 operating expenses were $43 million compared to $71.8 million in the year earlier period. The -over-year reduction in quarterly operating expenses of $28.8 million reflects management efforts to reduce costs and operate more efficiently as we transition from an &D-focused organization to one focused on commercialization. Furthermore, on average, quarterly operating expenses decreased from $69.9 million in 2023 to $42.7 million in 2024, generating an annualized savings of more than $108.6 million. That decrease in burn rate is significant and has a meaningful impact on cash management. During the fourth quarter of 2024, we also reduced our operating loss to $11.9 million compared to an operating loss of $71.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Looking ahead, NewSkill is well positioned to accelerate growth in 2025 with module production commercialization with entry-level advance. We have built a strong foundation for growth based on world-class technology, a powerful global supply chain, and a strong competitive position. I will conclude my remarks with a brief overview of our capitalization table, seen on slide 11. With that, I'd like to thank you again for joining today and for continued support of NewSkill. We'll now take questions. Operator?

Thank you. And once again, that is star one if you have a question. We'll go first to George Gianarichas, Canaccord Genuity.

Hi, everyone. Thank you for taking my questions. Um, maybe if you could just go into a little bit of detail around any potential bottlenecks you're seeing in putting pen to paper and signing an agreement with a large data center company in the U.S. Thank you.

Yeah, this is John. I don't know necessarily I'd say bottlenecks as it is, just the complexity of putting these projects together. As we as we stated, NewSkill is the provider of power modules. Enter One will be the owner. We're in discussions with operators. We're in discussions with other contractors who are willing to build and we continue to build our supply chain. So it's and we're also in discussions obviously with those funding mechanisms who want to participate in this. So it's not necessarily bottleneck as I said, George, it is just the complexity of putting the deals together. But I will say, you know, as I commented, we've just ordered an additional six modules. So we're very confident that we're getting closer to landing in or closing some of these deals.

Literally. Thank you. And maybe just as one follow up, Ramsey, can you give us a little bit more detail around the parameters or conditions met that allowed you to recognize the revenue in the fourth quarter? Thank you.

Sure, George, I think, yeah, there's two components of the contract. One was delivery of services. And the other was our work advancing towards delivery of service or delivery of an item. So we encountered revenue recognition in the form of two contracts. They based along both those lines. One was in relation to licensing some technology. And one was in relation to doing some subcontract around the EPC work.

And again, that is star one. If you have a question, next up is Mark Bianchi, TD Cowan.

Hey, guys, this is Esteban Abaracino for Mark here. So you guys mentioned, yeah, the Dusan forging of the 12 reactors. I imagine, you know, six of those are intended for the Romania plant. And these additional six, um, those aren't yet booked by another unannounced customers, right? I think if I'm kind of getting this correctly, you're trying to really use that to front load more of the long lead sort of items to try and compress the operation timeline of a plant for a potential customer. Is that right?

Yeah, you know, what we're doing is we feel that in discussions we're having with prospective customers currently, and you're right, these long lead items, if you're not in order or placed orders by now, it's years away because they take that long for them to manufacture. So we're feeling very confident that in place these additional six. And by the way, for those first six, it's really a first mover. We're progressing very well with row power, as we've commented before, we're in the front end engineering and design, things are progressing well. They go for their, for their final investment decision, fourth quarter of 2025. And as I stated before, but we're also in discussion with other customers that are looking also to be near term deployable.

Esteban, if I can clarify one item that you mentioned. So new scale is not manufacturing reactors. We are manufacturing long lead materials in relation to 12 new scale power modules, just to make the distinction that these are the long lead materials which we're manufacturing. And you're right, they are for 12 modules today. And to clarify, they're not for a particular customer. They're for the first customer that says we want to buy these modules. We believe it in our best interest, our customer's best interest to engage on the forgings for an additional six, in addition to the six that we already had in production. And just push forward with these 12 long lead materials or long lead materials in relation to 12 modules.

Got it. Got it. Thank you for that. My other one is, so the revenue from the row power feed study, is that expected to stay around this level until the study is complete, you know, later in the year? Or should we expect a deferring cadence throughout the year?

I think there's some front-lining to the revenue, Esteban. But we'll continue to do revenue in relation to some of the subcontract work on EPC throughout this year. I'm fairly careful, Esteban, and not providing guidance on future revenues. We tend not to do that yet.

Perfect. And if I could just squeeze one more. So on the US, the $800 million grant that's out there for Gen 3 reactors, is there any update, you know, you guys can give us there? You know, you guys had a competitor that announced a few weeks ago a task force to try and push for the award. Is New Scale, you know, working for something similar, you know, to get that grant or any other developments that you guys can touch upon?

Yeah, this is John. We're trying to get, trying to ascertain. In fact, I've got meetings this week with the Department of Energy to get more clarity around that particular award. So as it looks right now, we're not, we're not real sure if we want to participate at this point or not. I'll ask Clayton. Clayton's been close to this. He's our commercial officer. Clayton, do you have anything to add on that particular award?

No, we're, as you said, we're evaluating it. I think we're cautious. We're not quite sure where that's going to land and how it's going to be distributed, but we're looking at it and we're in discussions with, you know, Enter One and some of our offtake partners to determine whether we want to pursue that specifically.

Perfect. Thank you guys so much.

The next question is Ryan Fink to be Riley.

Hey guys, thanks for taking my questions. As a follow up to one of the first questions, just for your conversations with Data Center or other customers, could you just walk us through some of the items that you and Enter One need to work through with prospective customers before being in a position to announce a project?

Yeah, it's predominantly around the negotiation and finalization of long-term power purchase agreements. You know, the Enter One model and the reason these customers appreciate this model is because as they stated during the call that Enter One, they will look to build own, transfer or build operate. We probably will not operate or sell. We'll utilize a company like AEP or someone else, but the power purchase agreements are what we're in discussions about right now.

Got it. Thanks, John. And then can you just remind us what the next steps are for the ROE Power Project and what milestones we should be looking for in 2025?

Yeah, it's, as I said, we are a subcontractor to Floor Corporation. I'm in discussions. In fact, I'm meeting with the CEO of Nuclear Electrica in two weeks at CIRA, the Energy Conference in Houston. So right now we take the lead from Floor and we continue to support them in this project in government moving this thing forward. So for what we know right now, all indications are that, you know, as what we see, it's progressing well. We'll wait after this fourth quarter 2025, the government will determine or Nuclear Electrica will determine if they're going to go forward with the final phase, which is the major production of the plan itself.

Understood. Thanks for that.

And next up is Eric Stein, Craig Hallam.

Hi, John. Hi, Ramsey. Hey. So maybe just on the upgrade, I mean, obviously it sounds like quite confident and you've stuck with that mid 2025 date for some time. Just wondering, can you detail kind of the steps that are left or is it just getting through the process? And then I'm just wondering, you mentioned the pipeline and clearly a strong testament in your confidence there with the six more modules along lead time materials. I mean, are customers waiting for this? Is this something that with that in hand that potentially speeds up the process of securing that first customer? How should we think about that?

Yeah, actually the power upgrade to 77 is progressing well. We're pretty much have completed all the technical requirements for the NRC. Now it's a matter of just going through the process administratively. I am myself and a few others were meeting with the NRC this week, including the mostly with the commissioners, but also with David Wright, who's also the chairman of the NRC. And, you know, we're this close. I mean, we're on schedule and once we get finalization of that 77 megawatt, we're off to the races. And like right now we're tier term deployable. We could be building currently. That's why we've ordered these long lead items in anticipation of what's going to come. On the pipeline, Clayton, you have anything to add?

No, I think the key issue is that having these LLMs in order certainly helps us expedite the first project and getting into the pipe. So, you know, we're trying to focus on early deployment and expedition of the project. So this will certainly help us in that first 12 module plan.

Got it. Very helpful. And then maybe last one, just you mentioned obviously this huge demand for nuclear power, but there's also balancing that with taking that power from existing off takers. You know, so are you seeing any change to the view of traditional nuclear and restart plants that are out there? I mean, we all know the handful of names that are out there, but whether it's additional plants that maybe have been mothballed for longer or expansions, I mean, is there anything out there that would indicate that that has the potential to help this or do you really view that this is SMRs and SMRs alone that can really add to this?

Yeah, I don't know how many plants that could actually restart. You know, we've heard of the ones, you know, Three Mile Island, et cetera. I really do believe it's the small-module reactor plague going forward. You know, it's, many that could actually do a typical large gigawatt-size restart. All right. Clayton, do you have another view of that? I mean, you're close to it.

No, I think you're correct. I mean, there really is not many, there's not that many more plants that can come out of the restart program. And clearly, you know, they're looking at extensions of some of the units, but that's still taking time. But yes, I mean, we're at a point now where additional plants are going to have to be put on the grid. And, you know, based on when we look at the technologies, clearly the SMRs, I think, are going to be a strong component of that mix. And we're ready to do that and support it. And I look forward to being first out of the gates and get there.

You know, and we comment about Doosan frequently. In fact, we just had meetings with them this week, but we're also in discussions with other suppliers, strategic suppliers that we've noted earlier, IHI out of Japan, Doosan, GS Energy, and we continue to build out that. You know, we announced with Almeda that we're in other areas other than just foraging. So these things are complex. And that supply chain and those strategic partners are critical for our success. And we continue to build upon that.

Okay, thank you.

And that does conclude our question and answer session. I would like to hand the call back to New Skill's CEO, John Hopkins, for any additional or closing remarks.

Yeah, thank you, operator. We truly are a first mover in this space. We're poised to commercialize and deliver clean energy of scale. We believe new scale technology is essential to meeting world's energy needs. And again, as I said before, we are the leader poised to deliver safe, scaled, or reliable carbon-free power. And we want to thank you for your interest in new scale and looking forward to future calls. Thank you, operator.

Thank you, sir. Once again, that does conclude today's conference. Thank you all for your participation. You may now disconnect.