The high-tech company Amazon recently signed a contract with power infrastructure and provider company Talen Energy for 1,920 megawatts (MW) of nuclear energy by 2042 to fuel Amazon web servers and AI data centers in Pennsylvania.
According to an announcement from Talen, the energy will be produced at the company's Susquehanna nuclear facility, powering local Amazon facilities and with additional plans to explore small nuclear reactor (SMR) technologies.
Energy is fed from the grid, not directly from the nuclear power plant, as originally planned. This arrangement helps to support energy grid maintenance through service charges paid by Amazon.
Under the agreement, energy transfer company PPL Electric Utilities is responsible for providing power to Amazon. Christine Martin, president of PPL Electric Utilities, said:
“Connecting large load customers, such as data centers, to a transmission system allows for lowering the transmission component of all customers' energy invoices.
This move reflects the growing need for high energy power infrastructure to run artificial intelligence and high-performance computing data centers, as AI development is a key priority for global leaders.
Related: Amazon doubles AI with Pennsylvania's $200 Billion Investment
Tech giants rely on nuclear power to fund AI ambitions
In September 2024, Tech Company Microsoft signed a contract with Constellation Energy Corporation to reopen the nuclear site on the three-mile island, providing power to AI data centers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0t3wkl8nj8
The 20-year contract included 835 megawatts of nuclear power delivered to high-tech companies with the aim of bringing the facility online by 2028.
Recently, on June 3, social media and high-tech corporation meta agreed to purchase 1.1 gigawatts of nuclear power from the constellations for 20 years to power AI facilities.
The transition to nuclear power has been supported by US lawmakers and political leaders, urging innovation on the AI front to stay ahead of its international competitors.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his appeal to dedicate more resources to nuclear power to meet the demands of AI, cryptocurrency mining and other high-performance computing applications.
magazine: Blockchain projects make renewable energy a reality
