Norma Field walks under power lines at the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant, operated by Exelon Generation of Middletown, Pennsylvania.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
Constellation Energy Plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant and sell the power to Microsoft illustrate the technology industry’s huge need for energy as it builds data centers to support artificial intelligence.
Constellation announced Friday that it expects to resume operations at the No. 1 reactor at Three Mile Island near Middletown, Pa., in 2028, subject to Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval. Constellation also plans to apply to extend the operation of the plant until at least 2054.
Constellation shares were trading up about 15%. Shares have more than doubled so far this year.
Microsoft Power will be purchased from the facility through a 20-year agreement to match the energy consumed by its data centers with carbon-free electricity. Constellation said the agreement with Microsoft was the largest power purchase agreement ever signed by the nuclear power plant operator.
“This decision is the most powerful symbol of the rebirth of nuclear power as a clean, reliable energy source,” Constellation Chief Executive Joe Dominguez told investors on a conference call Friday morning.
Unit 1 ceased operations in 2019 as nuclear power struggled to compete economically with cheap natural gas and renewable energy. It is not the same reactor that partially melted down in 1979, the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.
Constellation will rename the facility the Crane Clean Energy Center. The plant is named after Chris Crane, the CEO of Constellation’s former parent company who died in April.
Constellation Chief Financial Officer Dan Eggers told investors on a conference call that Constellation will invest $1.6 billion to restart the plant by 2028, including nuclear fuel.
Technology in search of nuclear energy
As the technology industry develops artificial intelligence, power demand from data centers is expected to surge in the coming decades, putting pressure on the power grid. Although estimates vary, Goldman Sachs predicts that data centers will consume 8% of total U.S. electricity demand by 2030, up from 3% today.
Electricity demand has also surged due to the expansion of domestic manufacturing and the adoption of electric vehicles. Rystad Energy predicts that by the end of this century, data centers and electric vehicles alone will increase electricity demand by 290 terawatt hours, equivalent to the total electricity consumption of Turkey.
Technology companies are looking to nuclear energy to meet growing electricity demand while adhering to their climate goals. March, Amazon Web Services Purchased a data center campus conversation energy The project will be powered by the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant, also in Pennsylvania, in an unprecedented deal. Oracle It recently said it was designing a data center powered by three small nuclear reactors.
Federal and state governments are increasingly supportive of reviving the nuclear energy industry after a decade-long wave of reactor closures.
Three Mile Island will become the second nuclear power plant in U.S. history to restart operations. The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Michigan will be the first nuclear power plant and is expected to resume operations by the end of 2025.
Restart the trip
Eggers said Constellation expects the NRC to complete its review of Three Mile Island in 2027. The review includes safety and environmental impact studies.
“Based on our expertise in the plant permitting and regulatory process, and based on our observations of the Palisades reopening, we are very confident that we can restore the plant’s operating permit authority to the status quo before the shutdown in 2019,” Eggers said.
Eggers said PJM Interconnection, the largest U.S. grid operator, must also review Three Mile Island’s impact on the grid before restarting the nuclear power plant. Constellation plans to submit a grid interconnection request to PJM next year, the executive said.
Eggers said the plant could restart sooner than expected if PJM accepts changes to expedite interconnection requests to address power supply constraints in the 13 states the grid operator serves, primarily in the mid-Atlantic region.
“In this rebirth, we see the strongest sign yet of America’s enduring commitment to nuclear energy, as this ancient and loyal ally emerges renewed and ready to light the way forward,” Dominquez said.
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