Meta unveils nuclear deals with Vistra, TerraPower, Oklo
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Meta on Friday unveiled nuclear power deals with three firms — Vistra, TerraPower, and Oklo — to back large existing plants and help spur construction of advanced reactor designs.
Why it matters: It's the latest sign of big tech companies looking to nuclear as they seek electrons for building and using AI models.
- The tech giant said the combined plans will "support" up to 6.6 gigawatts of current and new generation by 2035.
Driving the news: There are 20-year power purchase deals with power giant Vistra's Perry and Davis-Besse plants in Ohio, and support for expanding generation — called "uprates" — from those two and Vistra's Beaver Valley plant in Pennsylvania.
- The energy from those plants flows into the PJM grid, but these kinds of deals with tech giants help support longer lifespans for these decades-old reactors.
On the advanced reactor front, Meta is funding Bill Gates-founded TerraPower's commercialization of its Natrium reactor.
- It's helping finance two units that can provide a combined 690 MW of power with delivery as early as 2032, it said.
- Meta also has "rights" for energy from up to six other Natrium units "capable of producing 2.1 GW and targeted for delivery by 2035," it said.
What's next: A separate partnership with Sam Altman-backed small reactor firm Oklo will help advance plans to build an "advanced nuclear technology campus" in southern Ohio's Pike County.
- It would start coming online as soon as 2030 and provide up to 1.2GW. It too would power the PJM grid, a region where Meta has operations.
Yes, but: The announcements didn't provide any specific funding information.
- But Meta said deals mean Oklo and TerraPower "have greater business certainty" and "can raise capital to move forward with these projects."
Flashback: Friday's news comes after Meta and Constellation signed a 20-year deal last year for Meta to buy about 1.1 gigawatts of nuclear power from Constellation's plant in Illinois.
And Meta is just one of tech heavyweights backing nuclear.
- Google signed a deal with Kairos Power to buy power from a new fleet of advanced reactors to supply its data centers.
- Amazon has partnered with Energy Northwest and Dominion Energy to develop nuclear.
- Microsoft committed to a 20-year deal to restart Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island plant.
Reality check: It's not yet certain whether or when preliminary plans for building new, advanced reactor designs will ultimately come to fruition, and how many years it will take.
The bottom line: "Our agreements with Vistra, TerraPower, Oklo, and Constellation make Meta one of the most significant corporate purchasers of nuclear energy in American history," Meta chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan said in a statement.
