Google’s power-hungry data centers crave nuclear energy
Google has entered a 20-year agreement with Constellation to upgrade six nuclear power plants in the US to support its energy-intensive data centers. The $4.3 billion investment aims to add 890 megawatts of capacity to the grid to meet rising demand from AI infrastructure.
Why it matters
The deal highlights the growing tension between the massive energy requirements of AI development and the stability of the national power grid.
Google announced a new agreement to update six nuclear power plant sites across the US as the tech giant seeks to generate more electricity for its power-hungry data centers.
Google signed the 20-year deal with Constellation, the leading nuclear power plant operator in the US. The power purchase agreement is meant to guarantee the revenue needed to cover the cost of efficiency upgrades 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 new equipment at each site to collectively lead to 890 megawatts of additional nuclear capacity. That’s roughly equivalent to the amount of electricity one large new nuclear reactor or three small modular reactors might generate, according to Google and Constellation.
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