AML3D Moves Into US Utilities Through Sale of 3D Printer to TVA

This year, we have seen a surge in popularity in large-format additive manufacturing solutions. Directed energy deposition especially has seen quite a lot of buzz, with applications in aerospace and defense taking center stage. Now there is yet another. AML3D has announced its entry into the United States utilities market with a sale of its ARCEMY® X 3D printer to the TVA.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is federally owned and is the sixth-largest power supplier and largest public utility in the United States. In 2023, it had four fossil plants, three nuclear plants, 29 hydro plants, one pumped storage hydroelectric plant, nine natural gas combustion turbine gas plants, eight natural gas combined cycle gas plants, one diesel generator site and nine solar energy sites. It serves the Southeast of the country including Tennessee, northern Alabama, northeastern Mississippi and southwestern Kentucky along with portions of northern Georgia, western North Carolina and southwestern Virginia. Or a population of over nine million people that according to a recent study is growing three-times faster than the national average.

A map of the area served by the TVA (photo credits: Beyond Plan B)

This growth has required the TVA to innovate and advance as it continues to look for ways to produce more sustainable, cost-effective energy for the region. Indeed, this is not even the first time that the public power corporation has turned to additive manufacturing. Back in 2021, 3D printed parts were installed for the first time at the TVA’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama in a partnership with the ORNL. Similarly, another ORNL project involved making 3D printed runners that were installed at the TVA’s Ocoee Dam in Tennessee. Now this purchase not only shows the TVA’s continued interest in additive manufacturing but specifically in large-format metal solutions.

TVA Expands AM Capabilities With AML3D

The ARCEMY® X 3D printed from AML3D will be installed at the TVA’s Muscle Shoals, a service facility in Alabama that provides advanced additive manufacturing capabilities to its power generation repair fleet. The solution uses AML3D’s patented WAM^® process, a form of arc-DED, that is useful for repairs and large parts. The ARCEMY® X in particular has been designed for extra-large parts with a safe print area of 0.5 m wide by 0.5 m long, and a maximum print area of 1.8 m x 1.8 m.

The machine was selected after a competitive tender process according to AML3D that had the TVA assessing several options. The $2.27 million contract also includes two years of service and maintenance, with an option to extend. Final commissioning is expected to occur in the second half of 2025.

The ARCEMY® X from AML3D (photo credits: AML3D)

The sale fits in well with AML3D’s US Scale Up strategy, wherein the company is targeting expansion into new industry sectors in the sector while still maintaining its work in the defense sector. Prior to this, AML3D has already successfully serviced the US Navy, notably in making parts for submarines. The company continues to note that it expects even more expansion into utilities, aerospace, oil & gas and maritime sectors in the country. Sean Ebert, the CEO of AML3D, confirms, “This entry into the US Utilities sector also supports our decision to further expand our US facilities, funded by the recent capital raising, to meet the continuing growth in demand and for our advanced manufacturing technology across the US.”

President of AML3D US Pete Gourmas concludes, “It is very exciting to be working with the TVA and creating new growth opportunities in the Utilities sector to complement our continuing success supplying the US Navy’s Submarine Industrial base. AML3D’s strategy for growth in the US has always included expanding into new sectors […] I’m particularly pleased to earn this TVA order since it was a competitive solicitation, and we believe we have the best offering in large format wire arc systems in the world. Expanding into the US utilities sector is just the beginning as there are significant opportunities to continue to expand our technology into the US Aerospace, Oil & Gas and Marine sectors as well. We are just getting started.”