Mark Zuckerbergs Meta makes bet on nuclear power to fuel AI ambitions | Latest Tech News
Meta Platforms said Friday it struck 20-year agreements to buy power from three Vistra nuclear plants in the US heartland and develop initiatives with two firms hoping to construct small modular reactors.
Shares of Oklo and Vistra surged more than 10%.
Meta and other Big Tech firms need to secure long-term electrical energy provides as artificial intelligence and data facilities increase US power demand for the first time in 20 years.
Meta and other Big Tech firms need to secure long-term electrical energy provides as artificial intelligence and data facilities increase US power demand for the first time in 20 years. AP
The company said in a weblog it’ll buy power from Vistra’s Perry and Davis-Besse plants in Ohio and Beaver Valley plant in Pennsylvania.
Meta said the deal will help finance growth at the Ohio plants and lengthen the lifespan of the plants, that are licensed to run through at least 2036 with one of two reactors at Beaver Valley licensed through 2047.
Meta will also help develop small modular reactors deliberate by Oklo and TerraPower, the latter of which is backed by billionaire Bill Gates.
SMR backers say the reactors will in the future save prices because they are often constructed in factories instead of on web site.
Critics say they may battle to obtain economies of scale comparable to current large reactors.
There are no US SMRs in industrial operations yet and the plants will require permits.
Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, said the plans along with its settlement last 12 months with Constellation to keep an Illinois reactor working for 20 years will “make Meta one of the most significant corporate purchasers of nuclear energy in American history.”
There are no small modular reactors in industrial operation yet and the plants will require permits. (Above, steam rises out of the nuclear plant on Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.) AFP via Getty Images
The agreements will present up to 6.6 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2035, Meta said.
The dimension of a typical nuclear power plant is about 1 GW.
In 2024, Meta sought curiosity from nuclear power builders for 1 to 4 gigawatts of nuclear power.
Meta will help fund TerraPower’s development of two reactors to generate up to 690 megawatts of power as early as 2032.
The agreements will present up to 6.6 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2035, Meta said. JOHN G MABANGLO/EPA/Shutterstock
The settlement also gives Meta with rights for power from up to six other TerraPower reactors by 2035.
TerraPower president and CEO Chris Levesque said the settlement will help speedy deployment of reactors.
Meta said its partnership with Oklo will help develop up to 1.2 GW of power in Ohio as early as 2030. The help will help “early procurement and development,” said Jacob DeWitte, Oklo’s co-founder and CEO.
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