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The project will create 'thousands' of direct and indirect jobs. NextEra Energy has secured a $1.9 billion loan from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to restart its Duane Arnold Energy Center, a 615-megawatt nuclear facility in Linn County, Iowa. Power from the plant will be purchased by Google for its AI data centers, strengthening local grid reliability.
With the rise of AI, Google and other data center companies have been seeking energy to power their operations. Google previously pledged to use green and renewable energy sources but recently partnered with a natural gas plant for one of its Texas data centers. Other companies like Tesla and Meta have relied on dirty grid energy or their own natural gas generators.
This deal makes Google's nuclear option a potential game-changer for emissions, though nuclear waste remains a concern. The DOE plans to restart three mothballed power plants to support both grid stability and AI data centers. The Duane Arnold Energy Center, which had been decommissioned after a 2020 tropical storm damaged its cooling towers, is set to restart production by 2029.
The $1.9 billion loan is part of a broader effort to revive nuclear energy amid growing demand for data center energy.
Source: Engadget
