Google and nuclear developer Elementl Power announced this week that they will be working together on three advanced nuclear reactor sites.
Tech companies are rushing to lock in energy sources as AI ambitions drive growth electricity demand in data centers. This year alone, Google plans to spend $75 billion in building data center capacity.
With the new deal, Google is committed to adding at least 600 megawatts of generation capacity to each of the three sites. Elementl said the reactors will be connected to the grid “using a commercial off-take option.” This means that Google can purchase electricity directly.
Elementl has been secretly operating it until this announcement. The team has experience in the nuclear industry but has not yet developed a power plant. The company was launched by Breakwater North and is backed by Energy Impact Partners.
Elementl takes a “technological agnostic” approach. That is, it has not decided which small modular reactor (SMR) companies to cooperate in developing the project. Kairos Power is likely, given its existing deal with Google, but there are many possibilities.
Kairos says the demo plant will generate 50 megawatts of electricity. The final commercial plant produces 150 megawatts divided between the two reactors.
There is no universally accepted definition, but SMR tends to be at the top at around 300 megawatts. In comparison, Georgia’s Vogtle Unit 4, a recently completed nuclear power plant in the United States, produces more than 1.1 gigawatts of electricity, almost four times the size of a large SMR.
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Silicon Valley is obsessed with SMRS. Startups are running into the space and are committed to reducing reactor costs through mass production, which is now possible with the smaller size of SMRS. It coupled with a promise of 24/7 power that can be located near the data center, prompting them to sign many deals with SMR startups, including Oklo, X-Energy and the aforementioned Kairos.
However, no SMRs have been built outside of China. One startup, Nuscale, is approaching construction, but in 2023, it was set up when utility partners cancelled their contract after the project’s estimated costs more than doubled.
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