Google announced a partnership with NextEra Energy to accelerate U.S. nuclear energy deployment, starting with the restart of the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa. Expected to resume operations by early 2029, the plant will supply over 600 megawatts of clean, reliable power to support Google’s expanding cloud and AI infrastructure in the region. The project is expected to create thousands of jobs and deliver major economic benefits to the state. Google will fund both the restart investment and the energy production costs, describing the move as the fastest way to scale nuclear power and meet rising energy demands for AI while advancing clean energy goals. They write:
Google announced a collaboration with NextEra Energy to accelerate nuclear deployment across the U.S., including the restart of the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa.
We expect Duane Arnold to be back online in early 2029, and the plant will provide more than 600 MW of clean, safe, “always-on” nuclear energy to the regional grid. This will support our growing cloud and AI infrastructure in Iowa and bring thousands of jobs and substantial economic benefits to the state. Through this agreement, we’re enabling the investment to restart the plant and covering costs for the production of energy from Duane Arnold.
Restarting a once fully operational plant is the fastest path to unlock large-scale nuclear power to meet AI growth in the near-term. This builds on other ways we’re working to rapidly enable access to reliable, affordable, and scalable energy solutions, from advancing new clean generation to making our demand more flexible and deploying next-generation transmission technology.
Read more here.
