What happened
Google has announced a 20-year agreement with Constellation Energy to upgrade 11 nuclear reactors in three states, which will add 890 megawatts of power. The upgrades will be made at reactors in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, with the first upgrade expected by 2028.
The agreement will cover the full cost of the new power, with Google paying for the upgrades and Constellation investing $4.3 billion in new equipment and transmission upgrades. The upgrades, known as uprates, will allow existing reactors to produce more power without building new plants.
The deal is seen as a response to the growing demand for power from data centers, with the PJM Interconnection grid operator facing a shortfall of 6.8 gigawatts in new power supply. The upgrades will create around 7,200 construction jobs and sustain 4,400 existing jobs, according to the companies.
Google has also signed a 15-year supply agreement with Constellation to cover 2,700 megawatts from existing plants in the region, which will help keep those plants operating. The deal is part of a larger trend of tech companies investing in nuclear power to meet their growing energy needs.
