Google has signed a “world-first” deal to purchase power from a fleet of mini nuclear reactors to generate the power needed for increased use of artificial intelligence.
The American technology corporation has ordered six or seven small nuclear reactors (SMR) from the California city. Kairos Power, the first will be completed in 2030 and the rest in 2035.
Google hopes the deal will provide a low-carbon solution to power data centers, which require huge volumes of electricity.
The US company, owned by Alphabet, said nuclear power provided “a 24-hour source of clean energy that can help us reliably meet electricity demand.”
The explosive growth of generative AI, as well as cloud storage, has increased demand for electricity from technology companies.
Last month, Microsoft reached a deal to purchase power from Three Mile Island, activating the plant for the first time in five years. The site, in Pennsylvania, was the site of the most serious nuclear meltdown in U.S. history, in March 1979. Amazon purchased a nuclear-powered data center from Talen Energy in March.
The locations of the new plants and financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Google agreed to buy a total of 500 megawatts of power from Kairos, which was founded in 2016 and is building a demonstration reactor in Tennessee, which will be completed in 2027.
Michael Terrell, senior director of energy and climate at Google, saying: “The grid needs new sources of electricity to support artificial intelligence technologies that are driving important scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth.
“This agreement helps accelerate new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone.”
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Mike Laufer, CEO and co-founder of Kairos, said: “We are confident that this novel approach will improve the prospects of our projects being delivered on cost and on schedule.”
The deal, which is subject to regulatory clearances, represents a vote of confidence in SMR technology. Smaller, factory-built power plants are designed to reduce cost overruns and delays often experienced in the construction of larger plants. However, critics argue that SMRs will be expensive because they may not be able to achieve the same economies of scale as larger plants.
In the UK, companies are competing to be selected by the government to develop their SMR technologies as ministers aim to revive their nuclear industry. One of the bidders, Rolls-Royce SMR, received a significant boost last month when it was selected by the Czech government to build a fleet of jets.