by Simon August
Google will pay to upgrade 11 nuclear reactors across three states — adding as much power as a new large reactor — as data center demand climbs.
The 20-year agreement with Constellation Energy, announced Tuesday, will add 890 megawatts at reactors in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with the first upgrade expected by 2028, the companies said. A Google spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation the company will pay the full cost of the new power it needs.
“Under these nuclear uprate agreements, Google is covering Constellation’s costs to invest in new capacity, make necessary transmission upgrades, and manage ongoing operations,” the spokesperson said. “This ensures Google pays the full cost of the new generation required to meet its demand, while also supporting the ongoing operations of Constellation’s existing assets—costs that might otherwise be passed on to local ratepayers.”
Constellation did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
The reactors supply the PJM Interconnection, the grid operator serving 67 million people across 13 states and Washington, D.C., which has a shortfall of about 6.8 gigawatts in new power supply as data centers add to demand, Utility Dive reported.
The upgrades, known as uprates, swap in new equipment such as turbines and steam generators so existing reactors produce more power without building a new plant, according to the companies.
“Constellation will invest $4.3 billion for 890MW of new reliable capacity that will operate 24/7 for decades, which is highly competitive during a time of rising power costs. Uprates have a simpler regulatory pathway compared to a new reactor, and Constellation is aiming to bring new power to the grid as soon as 2028,” Jake Kincer, senior program manager for the nuclear program at ClearPath, a right-of-center clean energy policy group, told the DCNF.
“There is still opportunity to put new capacity on the grid via uprates, and a recent survey showed that nearly every nuclear facility was considering these investments,” Kincer said. He said Washington can build on the deals by “investing in the supply chains necessary to meet the President’s goal of quadrupling nuclear capacity by 2050.”
The upgrades will be made at the Braidwood, Byron, LaSalle and Quad Cities plants in Illinois, the Limerick plant in Pennsylvania and the Salem plant in New Jersey, which Constellation partly owns, a Constellation spokesman told Nuclear News.
About $2 billion of the investment is expected to go to the four Illinois plants and create about 4,200 construction jobs in the state, Republican Illinois state Sen. Sue Rezin said in a statement.
“This is a major investment in Illinois’ energy future and a recognition of the tremendous value of our nuclear fleet,” said Rezin, who helped lead efforts to end the state’s decades-old moratorium on new nuclear construction.
“This long-term clean energy collaboration with Google can serve as a model for how technology companies and the energy industry can work together to responsibly develop the digital economy and invest in our nation’s energy infrastructure in a way that delivers grid-wide benefits for all, funded by private entities,” Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez said in a statement.
Constellation will invest more than $4.3 billion across six nuclear sites, creating about 7,200 construction jobs and sustaining about 4,400 existing jobs, the companies said. Google also signed a 15-year supply agreement covering 2,700 megawatts from Constellation’s existing plants in the region, which the companies said will keep those plants operating.
The companies called the deal a “direct response” to a PJM proposal for large power users to bring their own supply and said it fits the goals of the White House’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge.
Constellation signed a similar 20-year agreement with Amazon a week earlier to add 190 megawatts at Maryland’s Calvert Cliffs plant, bringing its new nuclear deals with the two tech companies to almost 1.1 gigawatts, Utility Dive reported.
Google agreed in September to help pay for similar upgrades at Georgia Power’s nuclear plants in a deal the utility said would protect its other customers.
Constellation shares rose almost 14 percent in morning trading Tuesday, according to Utility Dive.
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Simon August is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Google Data Center” by Lambtron. CC BY-SA 4.0.
