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Diving overview:
- Meta on Friday announced agreements with three nuclear power companies to enable new nuclear power generation and expand current operating capacity. The tech giant is looking to power its artificial intelligence ambitions with clean energy.
- The social media conglomerate has signed deals with TerraPower, Oklo and Vistra that will collectively deliver up to 6.6 gigawatts of clean energy by 2035, Mehta said. press release.
- Mr. Mehta said the transaction request for proposal In late 2024, the company was exploring nuclear power options to support its AI goals. The transaction is as follows 20-year nuclear power purchase agreement Meta signed with Constellation Energy last June.
Dive Insight:
Meta, which owns social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Whatsapp, entered into the agreement as data center emissions increase due to AI. The company reported data center emissions rose 24% year over year in 2024, even though Scope 1 and 2 emissions fell 3.5% over the same period. data from Latest sustainability report. Meta's goal is to Achieve net zero emissions across the supply chain by 2030.
Meta said the three deals will help support its AI innovations, add clean energy to the grid and provide continued investment in operating nuclear power plants. In addition to the Constellation deal, the new agreement makes Meta “one of the most significant corporate purchasers of nuclear energy in U.S. history,” said Joel Kaplan, Meta's chief international officer.
“State-of-the-art data centers and AI infrastructure are essential to securing America's position as a global leader in AI,” Kaplan said in a Meta release. “Nuclear energy can help power an AI future, strengthen the nation's energy infrastructure, and provide clean, reliable power for all.”
Meta and TerraPower have reached an agreement to support the development of up to eight nuclear reactor and energy storage system plants. TerraPower said Friday that the deal is “Meta's largest support for advanced nuclear technology to date.” in another release. These plants are expected to provide up to 2.8 GW of power to Meta, increasing TerraPower's total output to 4 GW.
The agreement supports the early development of two new nuclear power units and also provides energy rights for up to six additional units, according to a TerraPower release. The first unit is expected to be operational in 2032.
“To successfully meet our growing energy needs, we must deploy gigawatts of advanced nuclear energy in the 2030s,” said Chris Levesque, president and CEO of TerraPower.
The deal with technology giant Oklo allows for the development of a 1.2 gigawatt power campus in southern Ohio to support Meta's data centers in the region.
According to reports, Oklo announced that it would use the funds obtained from the agreement to purchase nuclear fuel and advance the first phase of nuclear power development. release. Pre-construction is expected to begin this year, with the first phase expected to be operational as early as 2030. Oklo expects the plant to reach full capacity by 2034, the release states.
The agreement between Meta and Vistra is a 20-year power purchase agreement that will provide Meta with more than 2,600 megawatts of nuclear energy from Vistra's three nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The contract includes agreements for 2,176 MW of operational generation and 433 MW of output increases. Vistra said: its release This represents the largest increase in nuclear capacity supported by a U.S. corporate customer.
Vistra said the agreement would allow it to extend the licenses of its three nuclear power plants for 20 years.
