Big tech company says it needs 24/7 baseload power to support operations
Technology giant Google has signed an agreement with a nuclear power project developer to commit funding for at least three projects that each would have 600 MW of generation capacity.
Elementl Power, a nuclear project developer founded in 2022 and based in Greer, South Carolina, said on 7 May that Google would help the company move towards its goal of bringing more than 10 GW of nuclear power capacity online by 2035.
As part of the agreement, Google will commit early-stage development capital to advance the development of three projects.
Each project would generate at least 600 MW of power capacity, with the option for commercial offtake for Google once complete.
Google said the agreement is part of its work to source 24/7 baseload energy to support its operations and strengthen power grids.
“This innovative approach links capital investment directly with the growing demand for clean baseload power,” Google said.
Exact terms of the Elementl-Google deal, and the possible locations of the projects, were not announced.
Elementl Power said it will continue the evaluation of potential technology, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), and other project partners, while prioritising specific sites for accelerated development.
Elementl Power has not yet built any nuclear power projects. The company has said it is technology agnostic, and it has not determined what type of reactor it would use to produce nuclear power, noting that it would choose the technology furthest along in development when it is ready to start construction.
The agreement is the latest between a big tech company involved with artificial intelligence (AI) and an energy group.
Big Tech Bets On Nuclear
Tech companies are seeking deals to secure low-carbon electricity for their energy-intensive data centres.
Google chief executive officer Sundar Pichai said last year the company could use small modular reactors (SMRs) to generate power for its data centres.
The company then announced a partnership with Kairos Power, a developer of SMR technologies, and said it would purchase power from Kairos’ reactors. The deal at that time said the first Kairos project would come online by 2030, with additional projects expected by 2035.
Also last year, Microsoft announced that it would commit to buying 20 years’ supply of electricity from the mothballed Three Mile Island nuclear power plant if Constellation Energy restarted the site.
In March, Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of the online retail giant founded by Jeff Bezos, acquired US power producer Talen Energy’s Cumulus data centre campus at the Susquehanna nuclear power station in Pennsylvania.
US computer technology company Oracle wants to power a new data centre through nuclear energy, according to the firm’s chief technology officer Larry Ellison.
