Microsoft Powers Artificial Intelligence with Nuclear Energy

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Microsoft Powers Artificial Intelligence with Nuclear Energy

Microsoft Powers Artificial Intelligence with Nuclear Energy

Microsoft seeks carbon-free electricity for data centers to power AI boom.

The largest nuclear reactor operator in the United States, Constellation Energy , announced that it will invest up to $1.6 billion to revive the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, after agreeing to sell all production to the software giant.

Constellation Energy expects the Three Mile Island plant to return to service in 2028.

After one of the site's two units was completely shut down nearly half a century ago after the worst nuclear accident in the United States, Constellation Energy plans to reopen the other unit, which closed in 2019 because it could not compete economically.

Microsoft has agreed to buy the power for two decades, without disclosing financial terms. This is the first time Microsoft has acquired a fully nuclear facility for its own use.

Microsoft's decision is the latest sign of growing interest in the nuclear industry as energy demand for AI rises.

More than a dozen reactors have been shut down over the past decade or so due to increasing competition from cheap natural gas and renewable energy.

The growing demand for electricity has spurred interest in nuclear plants that can provide carbon-free power around the clock.

The deal to supply Microsoft with electricity from the 837-megawatt reactor is the largest power purchase deal for nuclear reactor operator Constellation Energy.

The Three Mile Island plant provides Microsoft with the energy equivalent of powering up to 800,000 homes.

Never before has a U.S. nuclear plant been returned to service after being decommissioned, and never before has all the output of a single commercial nuclear power plant been dedicated to a single customer.

Restart efforts have been underway since early 2023, when Constellation Energy began evaluating whether it made sense to restart the reactor.

By early this year, the nuclear reactor operator had concluded that it wanted to pursue the project, started talking to potential customers, and Microsoft was interested.

Microsoft's vice president of energy, Bobby Hollis, said the nuclear power purchase helps Microsoft's plans to power its massive global network of data centers with clean energy by 2025.

This nuclear energy is being used to power the expansion of data centers in areas such as Chicago, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Microsoft said earlier this year that increased demand for cloud computing was putting its plans to become carbon negative by 2030 at risk.

The company spent more than $50 billion on capital expenditures in the fiscal year that ended June 30, much of it on data center expansion. It plans to exceed that figure in the current fiscal year.

Microsoft isn't the only tech company looking to nuclear power to fuel its AI ambitions.

Earlier this year, Amazon agreed to spend up to $650 million to buy a data center complex connected to the financially troubled Susquehanna nuclear plant operated by Talen Energy.



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