Google and Constellation Energy sign latest nuclear energy deal
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Google and Constellation Energy announced a deal in which Constellation will invest $4.3 billion to upgrade 11 nuclear units in three states to help meet growing demand for electricity.
Why it matters: It's the latest deal from Big Tech meant to fund new nuclear generating capacity needed to support its enormous data-center buildout.
Driving the news: Google-parent Alphabet signed a deal Tuesday to purchase power from Constellation for 20 years.
- That contracted revenue will enable Constellation to upgrade 11 company-owned nuclear units in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
- The upgrades will result in 890 megawatts of new capacity — roughly the output of a new nuclear reactor — delivered to the PJM Interconnection grid in phases from 2028 through 2032, the companies said.
The big picture: The AI industry's near-term need for power is presenting an opportunity for the nuclear industry, Axios Pro's Katie Fehrenbacher has reported.
- Brand new nuclear projects can take decades and tens of billions of dollars to build — but extensions and restarts of aging reactors take far less time and money.
- And it just so happens that the nuclear industry has been grappling with aging reactors for years.
State of play: Amazon inked a similar deal with Constellation in Maryland last week.
- Meta has agreements to keep nuclear plants running in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois.
- Microsoft is buying power from a restart of Constellation's Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.
The bottom line: Big Tech's massive appetite for electricity is giving America's existing nuclear fleet a new lease on life.
