Consultation Energy Corp agreed to sell electricity from an operating Illinois Nuclear Plant to Meta Platform Inc., a deal that could motivate the construction of a new reactor on the site as artificial intelligence increases the demand for power.
According to a statement on Tuesday, the original company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp signed a 20 -year contract to buy outputs from the Clinton Plant starting from the Clinton Plant at a state subsidy. The largest American nuclear operator, constellation, refused to provide financial details.
This agreement is the latest evidence of the huge hunger of technology companies for energy to run data centers and AIs. Nuclear power is particularly prized because it is available around the clock and does not emit planetary air pollution.
Under the deal, the constellation will invest in increasing the output of Clinton. The company is also considering the plan to create another reactor in Clinton, already there is federal approval for a second unit.
“This is a logical place for us to talk to Meta, and others, potentially about the construction of the wealth of the next generation,” the Chief Executive Officer of the Nakshatra who said in an interview. “Those conversations are going well.”
Nakshatra shares increased by 16% in pre-market trading in New York, while the meta had changed slightly.
The constellation last year said that it would invest $ 1.6 billion to revive its closed three mile island plant in Pennsylvania and sell all the outputs to Microsoft Corp, while new reactors also have strong interest from technology companies in new reactors, power producers have cautioned a major nuclear investment after the southern company.
A major tech company can provide support that inspires the constellation to move forward with a new reactor, Dominguase said, a decision that would be an important advance for the industry. He is evaluating a wide range of potential technologies for the site, from small reactors which are still subject to the development of Big AP1000 design that was installed in Southern Georgia.
The Meta Deal is a symbol of a significant change for the Clinton Plant, which has about 1,100 MW capacity – enough for electricity in about 1 million houses. The then-owner Axlon Corp threatened to shut down the site in 2017 as nuclear operators around the US struggled to compete with cheap natural gas and renewal. The company changed the course after Illinois approved 10 -year subsidy.
The constellation has other Illinois nuclear plants that receive state subsidies that are ready to end in the next several years, and Dominguase said that he was talking to many customers about additional deals similar to the meta contract. He said that there could be a complete agreement in the next six to 12 months.
According to the company’s global major energy Uravi Parekh, the contract is the largest power deal in Mata. The company is rapidly interested in the atom to run its operation, and announced in December that it was demanding proposals as 4 GW of new American reactors. Till now it has received about 50 proposals from several companies including constellations.
The initiative is aimed at bringing power to the grid in the early 2030s, while the Clinton Deal is seen as a near-term attempt. With the prescribed subsidy for the end, the Meta and Nakshatra said they wanted to ensure that the plant remained competitive.
Parekh said in an interview, “It was not clear who would buy electricity from this power plant.” “We want to ensure that this place is a site where the atom is operated and it is going to give the constellation the ability to start thinking creatively how they can expand the ability here in the future.”
