Google’s revived nuclear power plant gets $1.9B loan from US government

Last October, Google said it would bring an Iowa atomic powerfulness works back from the dead. Now, the facility’s owner, NextEra Energy, has received a $1.9 cardinal indebtedness from the U.S. Department of Energy to concern the refurbishment.

The sizable indebtedness is the 2nd of its kind, suggesting that the Trump medication views revived atomic powerfulness arsenic a cardinal root of energy for tech companies seeking to powerfulness their AI information centers. Last year, the Department of Energy extended a $1 cardinal loan to Constellation Energy to restart a reactor astatine Three Mile Island.

James Danly, Deputy Secretary of Energy, said that the Iowa powerfulness plant’s restart successful 2029 volition “drive down energy costs,” though helium did not explicate how. Just 50 megawatts volition beryllium acceptable speech for the section powerfulness cooperative, NextEra CEO John Ketchum said during an earnings call past year. That capableness would screen 18% of Iowa’s request maturation since 2021, the twelvemonth earlier ChatGPT was released.

Google is reportedly looking to physique up to six information centers adjacent the Duane Arnold Energy Center, which hasn’t operated since 2020 erstwhile an aggravated rainstorm damaged the powerfulness plant. Rather than repair it, NextEra decided to mothball it. At the time, inexpensive earthy state was flooding the market, making atomic powerfulness economically unappealing.

A batch has changed successful the past six years, though. After decades of small maturation successful demand, the abrupt emergence of AI coupled with broader electrification of the system meant that utilities and powerfulness providers were abruptly scrambling to find caller generating sources of electricity. New information centers are expected to nearly triple the sector’s energy request by 2035.

Shuttered atomic powerfulness plants are becoming 1 of the tech industry’s favourite choices to rapidly supply clean, steadfast power.

Microsoft signed a woody with Constellation Energy 2 years agone to restart a reactor astatine Three Mile Island that past operated successful 2019. The reactor is scheduled to restart successful 2028 and make 835 megawatts. 

Another installation successful Illinois, Constellation Energy’s Clinton Clean Energy Center, was successful information of closing down earlier its genitor found a caller lawsuit successful Meta, which is buying each of the cleanable vigor attributes from the 1.1 gigawatt powerfulness plant. The statement volition spot Clinton sending its electrons to the section grid, portion Meta volition usage the certificates to offset emissions it is producing elsewhere. The tech giant’s Hyperion AI information center, for example, volition request 10 earthy state powerfulness plants to operate. If completed, the information halfway volition devour much energy than all of South Dakota.

Duane Arnold is smaller, but successful the process of refurbishment, NextEra volition compression an further 14 megawatts from the facility, bringing the full to 615 megawatts.

Altogether, the 3 powerfulness plants correspond the lowest hanging effect successful the U.S. There mightiness beryllium 1 oregon 2 more, according to a report from UtilityDive, though those candidates, including San Onofre successful California, person been shuttered for longer and would necessitate much enactment to bring backmost online.