Amazon sees to evolved nuevident reactors to encounter climate goals

Two days after Google cut a “world’s first” deal to buy electricity from evolved nuevident reactors, Amazon declared three recent consentments of its own today.

Each deal helps the growment of petite modular reactors (SMRs), which can be one-tenth to one-quarter the size of a traditional nuevident power set upt. If these projects originate it to the finish line, SMRs would be a source of carbon pollution-free energy for huge tech companies trying to salvage their climate goals by turning to nuevident energy.

Amazon signed an consentment with Energy Northwest, a consortium of accessible utilities in Washington state, to “assist the growment” of four SMRs by the punctual 2030s. Energy Northwest says Amazon has consentd to “fund the initial feasibility phase” cforfeit an existing nuevident energy facility in Richland, Washington. The e-commerce huge would then be able to buy electricity from the first four modules built with a combined capacity of 320 megawatts. The deal includes “the selection to further erect out the site” to 12 units generating up to 960MW, which Amazon says would be enough electricity to power 770,000 homes in the US. Additional electricity from the broadened site would be useable to Amazon as well as other businesses and homes in the area.

Amazon is also spending in the beginup X-energy, which is grotriumphg an evolved nuevident reactor set up that’s foreseeed to be engaged in the Energy Northwest project. Energy Northwest would ultimately erect, own, and function the reactors. It’s been exploring set ups for a nuevident facility using X-energy’s high-temperature gas-chillyed reactor set up, Xe-100, since 2020.

X-energy declared a $500 million Series C-1 financing round today “anchored by” Amazon. Beyond the project in Washington, the money is presumed to help the “completion of X-energy’s reactor set up and licensing” and the growment of a fuel lie facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. X-energy says it’s “collaborating” with Amazon to convey more than 5,000MW of recent SMR projects on line in the US by 2039, which it says would be the bigst commercial deployment concentrate of SMRs yet. To originate it all happen, the two companies “set up to set up and normalize a deployment and financing model to grow projects in partnership with infrastructure and utility partners.”

In Virginia, utility company Dominion Energy nabbed a deal with Amazon to “spendigate the growment of an SMR project” cforfeit its existing North Anna nuevident power station. Virginia is a hub for energy-hungry hyperscale data cgo ins, and Dominion foresees electricity insist in the state to double over the next 15 years. The SMR project with Amazon would be able to originate 300MW of power if it comes to fruition.

Nuevident energy has become an attrenergetic source of energy for tech companies, including Amazon, Google, and Microgentle, that are struggling to encounter pledgements they’ve made on climate alter. Data cgo ins burn thraw a lot of electricity — those engaged to train AI even more so — and that uncomfervents more greenhoengage gas eignoreions unless those data cgo ins run on carbon-free energy. Amazon, Google, and Microgentle all have bigr carbon footprints today than they did when they made beginant climate pledgements disjoinal years ago.

Nuevident reactors are also an pdirecting selection for data cgo ins that run around the clock becaengage, unappreciate solar and triumphd farms, they can originate electricity think aboutless of the weather or time of day. SMRs are also presumed to be speedyer to erect and easier to site than bigr traditional nuevident power set upts.

These SMR projects are subject to regulatory approval and could still face economic headtriumphds. The US Nuevident Regulatory Coshiftrlookion certified a set up for a petite modular reactor for the first time in January 2023, a set up by a company called NuScale Power. But by November, after facing soaring costs, NuScale had to scrap its set ups to erect a highly anticipated demonstration power set upt.

Big tech has also shown interest in traditional nuevident power set upts. In March, Amazon Web Services declared its buy of a data cgo in campus powered by a nuevident power set upt in Pennsylvania. Microgentle made a deal in September to help revive and buy power from the shuttered Three Mile Island set upt. 

Nuevident energy still faces opposition from helps troubleed about the potential environmental and health dangers that come with mining and enwealthying uranium for reactors and storing radioenergetic squander.

“It’s time for Big Tech to repledge to solutions that toil and pose less danger to our environment and health, including making data cgo ins as energy effective as possible and pledgeting them to be powered by recent rerecentable energy sources,” Johanna Neumann, a ancigo in straightforwardor at the Environment America Research & Policy Cgo in, shelp in a statement freed after Google’s SMR declarement this week.