Google to buy nuclear power for AI datacentres in ‘world first’ deal

Google has signed a “world first” deal to buy energy from a fleet of mini nuclear reactors to generate the power needed for the rise in use of artificial intelligence.

The US tech corporation has ordered six or seven small nuclear reactors (SMRs) from California’s Kairos Power, with the first due to be completed by 2030 and the remainder by 2035.

Google hopes the deal will provide a low carbon solution to power datacentres, which require huge volumes of electricity.

The US company, owned by Alphabet, said nuclear provided “a clean, round-the-clock power source that can help us reliably meet electricity demands”.

The explosive growth of generative AI, as well as cloud storage, has increased tech companies’ electricity demands.

Last month, Microsoft struck a deal to take energy from Three Mile Island, activating the plant for the first time in five years. The site, in Pennsylvania, was the location of the most serious nuclear meltdown in US history, in March 1979. Amazon bought a datacentre powered by nuclear energy in March from Talen Energy.

The locations of the new plants and financial details of the agreement were not revealed. Google has agreed to buy a total of 500 megawatts of power from Kairos, which was founded in 2016 and is building a demonstration reactor in Tennessee, due to be completed in 2027.

Michael Terrell, the senior director for energy and climate at Google, said: “The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies that are powering major scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth.

“This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone.”

Mike Laufer, the chief executive and co-founder of Kairos, said: “We’re confident that this novel approach is going to improve the prospects of our projects being delivered on cost and on schedule.”

The deal, which is subject to regulatory permits, represents a vote of confidence in SMR technology. The smaller, factory-built power plants are designed to cut the cost overruns and delays often experienced in building bigger plants. However, critics argue that SMRs will be expensive because they may not be able to achieve the same economy of scale as larger plants.

In the UK, companies are bidding to be selected by the government to develop their SMR technologies as ministers aim to revive its nuclear industry. One of the bidders, Rolls-Royce SMR, received a significant boost last month when it was selected by the Czech government to build a fleet of reactors.