CRANBERRY TWP — The U.S. Department of Energy announced Wednesday that it will give Westinghouse Electric Corp. nearly $13 million in funding to invest in the country's development of nuclear energy technology.

The department said it will invest a total of $19 million across four projects working on innovative nuclear energy technology, with $12.8 million going to Westinghouse. The Cranberry Township-based energy giant will use the funding to prepare the design, licensing, manufacturing and testing of the Nuclear Demonstration Unit of its eVinci Micro Reactor, according to a release by the Department of Energy.

According to the company, the eVinci Micro Reactor will provide decentralized nuclear energy without the need for the large nuclear power facilities currently in use.

The reactor takes up just 0.06 acres and will be able to be installed in areas previously inaccessible to nuclear energy reactors, while producing a sufficient amount of energy.

The company said it would take 48 to 79 acres of solar panels or 275 to 380 acres of wind turbines to produce the same amount of power as the eVinci will in 0.06 acres.

This was the fourth round of funding from the department, which increasingly seeks to fund nuclear energy innovations.

“The Trump Administration is committed to reviving and revitalizing the U.S. nuclear industry, and these private-public partnerships are needed to help successfully develop innovative domestic nuclear technologies,” said Rick Perry, U.S. Secretary of Energy.

“There are a lot of U.S. companies working on technologies to make the next generation of nuclear reactors safer and highly competitive, and partnerships will be key to accomplishing this goal.”