WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Meta said on Tuesday it is seeking proposals from nuclear power developers to help meet its artificial intelligence and environment goals, becoming the latest big tech company to take interest in atomic power amid an expected boom in power demand.
The company wants to add 1 to 4 gigawatts of new U.S. nuclear generation capacity starting in the early 2030s, it said in a release. A typical U.S. nuclear plant has a capacity of about 1 gigawatt.
“At Meta, we believe nuclear energy will play a pivotal role in the transition to a cleaner, more reliable, and diversified electric grid,” the company said in a release.
U.S. data center power use is expected to roughly triple between 2023 and 2030 and will require about 47 gigawatts of new generation capacity, according to Goldman Sachs estimates.
Microsoft and Constellation Energy announced a deal in September to restart a unit at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania in what would be the first-ever restart for a data center. The announcement follows a similar agreement in March in which Amazon.com, purchased a nuclear-powered data center from Talen Energy.
Meta said it is seeking developers with expertise in community engagement, development and permitting, and would consider either small modular reactors, an emerging part of the business that is not yet commercial, or larger nuclear reactors similar to today’s fleet of U.S. nuclear plants.
Meta said it will take submissions from developers that want to take part in the request for proposals until Jan. 3, 2025.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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