Google has formed a $4.3 billion (£3.2bn) deal with Constellation Energy to bring 890 megawatts of power onto the grid through a 20-year purchasing agreement.

The new capacity is to come from upgrades at six existing nuclear plants in Illinois, New Jersey and Philadelphia and is to include updates such as modernised turbines, steam generators and digital control systems.

The deal gives Constellation the revenue certainty to carry out updates to 11 of its reactors, the company said, with the power starting to appear on the grid operated by PJM Interconnection as early as 2028.

Plant upgrades

The two firms also agreed to a 15-year energy supply deal for another 2.7 gigawatts of power.

Amazon last week reached a similar deal with Constellation to buy 690MW of power, as part of a broader nuclear strategy, including through upgrades to the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Maryland.

Walmart signed a deal in June for power from Constellation to be provided in part from updates to an Illinois nuclear facility.

Google already has several deals for nuclear power, including a deal with NextEra Energy that will involve the company restarting its Duane Arnold reactor in Iowa that was mothballed in 2020.

Nuclear expansion

Google also funded new capacity from Southern that is to come from updates to two nuclear plants.

Microsoft in 2024 said it would buy capacity from Constellation’s currently shuttered Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, the site of a notorious 1979 disaster that helped sour the public on nuclear energy and its safety risks.

Facebook parent Meta earlier this year signed a 20-year purchase deal for power from Vistra’s nuclear plants, and has a similar deal with Constellation, as companies seek sources of energy to fuel hugely power-intensive AI workloads.