Google announced a new deal to upgrade six nuclear power plants across the United States as the tech giant looks to generate more electricity for its energy-intensive data centers.
Google signed a 20-year agreement with Constellation, the largest operator of nuclear power plants in the United States. The power purchase agreement aims to secure the revenue needed to cover the cost of efficiency improvements at existing nuclear plants and “represents more than $4.3 billion of new investment by Constellation,” according to the press release.
Over the next five years, the companies expect the new equipment at each site to collectively generate 890 megawatts of additional nuclear capacity. This is roughly equivalent to the amount of electricity that one new large nuclear reactor or three small modular reactors could generate, according to Google and Constellation.
PJM has struggled lately to meet growing demand for AI data centers
PJM has struggled lately to meet the growing demand for AI data centers. An independent market monitor filed a complaint last year with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) saying PJM was planning to allow huge data centers to connect to the grid that it could not reliably serve, which could lead to blackouts.
Along with the nuclear power deal, Google also signed a separate, much larger 15-year power supply agreement with Constellation, intended to ensure continued revenue for other existing power plants that Constellation operates within PJM, regardless of fuel type. Nuclear power accounted for 70 percent of Constellation’s total generating capacity last year, with another 8 percent coming from renewables. Oil and gas accounted for the remaining 22 percent, according to the company’s latest sustainability report. Gas also makes up the majority of PJM’s fuel mix. At 2,700 MW, the second agreement is much larger than the nuclear power purchase agreement.
Data centers are driving a surge in new gas infrastructure projects in the US, moving many technology companies away from their sustainability goals. Google’s carbon emissions increased 18 percent last year along with an increase in electricity demand of 37 percent, according to the company’s latest sustainability report.
