Amazon joins Google and Microsoft in nuclear power race

Amazon has signed three new deals to support the development of nuclear energy in the form of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

Amazon’s agreements are more like traditional upfront investments, the company said on Wednesday (Oct, 16). Google’s recently announced step into nuclear energy was a commitment to purchase power from a company if they get reactors online.

Microsoft has also entered into a deal to secure nuclear energy from Three Mile Island’s owners.

The tech giants are scrambling to fuel their generative artificial intelligence ambitions after it became clear that the existing US power grid is struggling to cope with the extremely high power demands of AI data centers. The focus on nuclear energy is in the hope of offsetting some of the excessive greenhouse gas emissions that are being caused by AI’s massive power requirements.

Transitioning to carbon-free energy is one of the fastest ways we can address climate change at scale.

That’s why we’ve signed innovative agreements to support new advanced nuclear energy projects, including Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) in the U.S.… pic.twitter.com/y6mG38ag6O

— Amazon News (@amazonnews) October 16, 2024

Amazon has invested in Energy Northwest, a state utility company in Washington. The investment funds the “initial feasibility phase of an SMR project” and gives Amazon the right to purchase energy from the first four modules, which are expected to generate 320 megawatts of power. Energy Northwest could then go on to add a further eight modules to the site, providing power to both Amazon and the grid.

“We are excited about this collaboration with Amazon and are impressed with their vision for helping develop new nuclear technologies and their desire to also make this resource available to utilities in the future,” said Greg Cullen, Vice President for Energy Services & Development at Energy Northwest.

“As a member of Washington’s business community, Amazon is committed to investing in new nuclear energy technologies that can help power our operations and provide net-new, safe sources of carbon-free energy to the grid,” said Kevin Miller, Amazon’s Vice President of Global Data Centers.

The second investment Amazon has made is into X-energy, a company that develops and designs SMRs. X-energy’s reactors are planned to be used in the Energy Northwest project. The investment will help X-energy expand its manufacturing capacity to meet Amazon’s power needs and bring more than 5 gigawatts of new power generation online by 2039. The extent of Amazon’s investment in X-energy is unclear – all we know is that Amazon has “anchored” their $500 million funding round.

“This collaboration between Amazon and X-energy is a significant step toward accelerating advanced nuclear technologies that can help us bring new sources of carbon-free energy to the grid cost-effectively and safely,” Miller said.

The third element of Amazon’s nuclear investments is an agreement with Dominion Energy in Virginia to “explore the development of an SMR project” near the utility company’s existing nuclear station, North Anna. Dominion has projected an 85% power demand increase in the next 15 years, and the hope is the SMR project will bring an additional 300 megawatts to the region.

“In alignment with our All-American, All-of-the-Above energy plan, small modular nuclear reactors will play a critical role in positioning Virginia as a leading nuclear innovation hub,” said Glenn Youngkin, Governor of Virginia.

Featured image credit: Amazon

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