Constellation Energy signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Microsoft on Friday (20 September) to help the restart of a unit of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, US.
Under the latest agreement, Microsoft will purchase energy from Three Mile Island to power its data centres in the state.
Technology companies have looked to nuclear energy, considered more reliable than solar and wind, to power their data centres for intensive activities such as cloud computing and AI.
Joe Dominguez, president and CEO of Constellation Energy, said: “Powering industries critical to our nation’s global economic and technological competitiveness, including data centres, requires an abundance of energy that is carbon-free and reliable every hour of every day, and nuclear plants are the only energy sources that can consistently deliver on that promise.”
In July, Constellation announced plans to bring back part of the Three Mile Island site, which was operational from 1974 until its closure in 2019.
“Before it was prematurely shuttered due to poor economics, this plant was among the safest and most reliable nuclear plants on the grid,” Dominguez said. “We look forward to bringing it back with a new name and a renewed mission to serve as an economic engine for Pennsylvania.”
According to Constellation, the Unit 1 reactor that is due to restart operations is fully independent from Unit 2, which was shut down in 1979 after suffering a partial meltdown, and will not be affected by activities at the latter facility.
The company said that investments in the turbine, generator, main power transformer, and cooling and control systems will enable the restart, which is due in 2028.
Constellation plans to spend around $1.6bn to revive the plant.
A statewide poll conducted by Susquehanna Polling & Research showed that Pennsylvanians favoured restarting the plant by more than a 2-1 margin.
