{"id":245250,"date":"2025-10-28T01:08:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T01:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/245250\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T01:08:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T01:08:11","slug":"google-joins-microsoft-in-plans-to-restart-us-nuclear-plants-to-power-ai-infrastructure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/245250\/","title":{"rendered":"Google joins Microsoft in plans to restart US nuclear plants to power AI infrastructure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Google has unveiled a plan to restart a US nuclear facility in Iowa to power the company’s artificial intelligence infrastructure.<\/p>\n

It made the announcement to reopen the Duane Arnold Energy Center in collaboration with electric power company NextEra Energy.<\/p>\n

The facility, which was shuttered in 2020, would return to service in 2029 “to help power Google’s growing cloud and AI infrastructure in Iowa”, the companies said in a joint statement.<\/p>\n

Google signed off on a 25-year agreement to purchase power from the facility once it restarted.<\/p>\n

It comes more than a year after power company Constellation announced it was in the process of restarting the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania following a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft.<\/p>\n

That facility had also closed in 2019 due to economic reasons and is also known for a near-catastrophic meltdown there in 1979.<\/p>\n

It has been announced it will return as the Crane Clean Energy Center.<\/p>\n

The Google plant would be 100 per cent owned by NextEra, which struck a deal with minority owners to purchase the share of the plant it does not currently own, the companies said.<\/p>\n

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“As the US enters a new era of innovation and opportunity driven by AI, this strategic collaboration aims to enable Google to grow its business needs responsibly,” the statement said.<\/p>\n

The statement also praised nuclear energy as a carbon-free source of power.<\/p>\n

“This partnership serves as a model for the investments needed across the country to build energy capacity and deliver reliable, clean power, while protecting affordability and creating jobs that will drive the AI-driven economy,” said Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google.<\/p>\n

John Ketchum, chairman and CEO of NextEra Energy, said the partnership “accelerates the development of next-generation nuclear technology”.<\/p>\n

AI energy needs surge<\/p>\n

AI has emerged as a major source of energy demand in 2025.<\/p>\n

In April, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projected that electricity consumption by data centres will more than double by 2030.<\/p>\n

\"AI<\/p>\n

Electricity consumption by data centres that also power AI will more than double by 2030. (Supplied: Google)<\/p>\n

The IEA report said electricity consumption from data centres was estimated to amount to around 415 terawatt hours, or about 1.5 per cent of global electricity consumption, in 2024.<\/p>\n

The report added a warning that there was “substantial uncertainty both about data centre consumption today and in the future”.<\/p>\n

Google has announced other initiatives to secure additional power capacity, including a venture with Elementl Power to develop three advanced nuclear power plants in the United States.<\/p>\n

ABC\/AFP<\/p>\n

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