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Amazon, Google Make Dueling Nuclear Investments To Power Data Centers With Clean Energy
Amazon announced on Wednesday that it was investing in small nuclear reactors, just two days after Google made a similar statement, as both tech titans seek new sources of carbon-free electricity to meet rising demand from data centers and artificial intelligence.
The intentions come after the owner of the decommissioned Three Mile Island nuclear power plant announced last month that it intends to restart the reactor so that internet giant Microsoft can purchase power to run its data centers. All three firms have invested in solar and wind technologies that generate electricity without emitting greenhouse gases. They now believe they must go further in their search for clean electricity to meet both demand and their own promises to reduce emissions.
Nuclear energy is a climate solution because its reactors do not emit the planet-warming greenhouse gases produced by power plants that use fossil fuels like oil, coal, and gas. The global need for power is increasing as buildings and cars electrify. Last year, more people used electricity than ever before, putting pressure on global electricity infrastructure. Data centers and artificial intelligence account for a significant portion of demand.
Amazon, Google Make Dueling Nuclear Investments To Power Data Centers With Clean Energy
The International Energy Agency predicts that data centers’ overall electricity usage will exceed 1,000 terawatt hours by 2026, more than tripling from 2022. According to estimates, one terawatt hour can power 70,000 houses for a full year.
“AI is driving a significant increase in the amount of data centers and power that are required on the grid,” Kevin Miller, Amazon Web Services vice president of global data centers, told The Associated Press. “We view advanced new nuclear capacity as really key and essential.”
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm expressed her delight that Amazon has become the latest company to “BYOP” or “bring your own power” in the construction of data centers. Granholm spoke during an event commemorating Wednesday’s announcement at Amazon’s second headquarters in Virginia. Virginia’s governor and two U.S. senators were also present.
The United States plans to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2035. Granholm described compact modular reactors as a “huge piece of how we’re going to solve this puzzle,” a strategy to phase out fossil fuel power while meeting rising electricity demand from data centers and new manufacturers. She stated that her agency will provide $900 million to deploy more of these reactors.
Small modular reactors are nuclear reactors that can produce up to one-third the power of a conventional reactor. According to developers, compact reactors will be developed faster and at a lower cost than large power reactors, with the ability to scale to meet the needs of a specific site. They hope to start producing electricity in the early 2030s if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves their designs and the technology works.
If new, clean power is not added as data centers are built, the United States risks “browning the grid,” or including more power from non-clean sources, according to Kathryn Huff, a former U.S. assistant secretary for nuclear energy who is now an associate professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The reactors are currently in development, and none are currently powering the US electric system. Big investors can help change that, and these announcements could be the “tipping point” that allows for the true scalability of this technology, according to Huff.
Jacopo Buongiorno, professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, agreed, stating that the industry requires customers who value nuclear’s dependability and carbon-free attributes and are willing to pay a premium for it at first until a number of next-generation reactors are deployed and the cost falls.
Amazon, Google Make Dueling Nuclear Investments To Power Data Centers With Clean Energy
On Monday, Google said that it had signed a contract to purchase nuclear energy from multiple tiny modular reactors that Kairos Power, a nuclear technology startup, intends to create.
The announcement focuses on “the technologies that we’re going to need to achieve round-the-clock clean energy, not only for Google but for the world,” according to Michael Terrell, Google’s senior director of energy and environment.
Google intends to have the first small modular reactor online by 2030, with others to follow through 2035. The deal is expected to add 500 megawatts of power to the system. Google used more than 24 terawatt hours of electricity last year, according to its annual environmental report. One terawatt is equivalent to 1,000,000 megawatts.
Meanwhile, Amazon announced on Wednesday that it is partnering with utility Dominion Energy to investigate the possibility of locating a small modular reactor near its current North Anna nuclear power facility in Virginia. It is investing in reactor developer X-energy for early development work and partnering with regional utility Energy Northwest in central Washington to locate four of the X-energy reactors.
The three announcements might total more than 5,000 megawatts of power by the late 2030s, with the possibility of even more. All of this likely accounts for only a small portion of Amazon’s total energy consumption, which the corporation does not disclose publicly.
According to Doug True, chief nuclear officer at the Nuclear Energy Institute, new reactor designs are well-suited to industrial applications since they can be installed on a small footprint and deliver reliable power, with some also capable of providing high-temperature heat on-site.
Both Amazon and Google have pledged to use renewable energy to combat climate change. Google has vowed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030 and to use carbon-free energy on all of its grids. It claims to have already matched 100% of its global electricity use with renewable energy purchases on an annual basis. However, the company has fallen short in reducing its emissions.
Amazon had stated that it would equal all of its global electricity use with 100% renewable energy by 2030, and it recently revealed that it had fulfilled that objective early in 2023. Though the company has matched its usage by purchasing an equal amount of renewable energy, this does not necessarily imply that it is using it to power its activities.
According to Amazon’s 2023 sustainability report, direct emissions (Scope 1) climbed by 7% while electricity emissions decreased by 11%. The corporation also intends to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040.
SOURCE | AP
