Amazon Web Services (AWS) has signed three nuclear power deals in the US.
The company has followed recent announcements from the likes of Google and Microsoft, and signed several deals around deploying nuclear small modular reactors (SMRs) to power its data centers.
“Nuclear is a safe source of carbon-free energy that can help power our operations and meet the growing demands of our customers, while helping us progress toward our Climate Pledge commitment to be net-zero carbon across our operations by 2040,” said Matt Garman, CEO of AWS.
“One of the fastest ways to address climate change is by transitioning our society to carbon-free energy sources, and nuclear energy is both carbon-free and able to scale—which is why it’s an important area of investment for Amazon. Our agreements will encourage the construction of new nuclear technologies that will generate energy for decades to come.”
SMRs in Washington with Energy Northwest
In Washington, AWS has signed an agreement with Energy Northwest, a consortium of state public utilities, that will enable the development of four advanced SMRs.
The reactors will be constructed, owned, and operated by Energy Northwest, and are expected to generate roughly 320MW of capacity for the first phase of the project, with the option to increase to 960MW total. These projects are due to come online beginning in the early 2030s.
Through the agreement, Amazon will fund the initial feasibility phase of an SMR project, which is planned to be sited near Energy Northwest's Columbia Generating Station nuclear energy facility in Richland, Washington.
Under the agreement, Amazon will have the right to purchase electricity from the first project, comprising four modules and expected to generate 320MW. Energy Northwest has the option to further build out the site by adding up to eight additional modules (totaling 640 MWs) resulting in a total project generating capacity of up to 960MWs. This additional power will be available to Amazon and Northwest utilities to power homes and businesses.
“As a member of Washington's business community, Amazon is committed to investing in new nuclear energy technologies that can help power our operations and provide net-new, safe sources of carbon-free energy to the grid," said Kevin Miller, Amazon's VP of global data centers.
“We're proud to be working with Energy Northwest, a utility company that's also thinking big about meeting society's growing energy demands while addressing climate change. This new SMR project is a significant step toward Amazon's Climate Pledge commitment to reach net-zero carbon across our operations by 2040, and signifies our continued dedication to becoming a more sustainable company."
Greg Cullen, VP for energy services & development at Energy Northwest, added: “We've been working for years to develop this project at the urging of our members, and have found that taking this first, bold step is difficult for utilities, especially those that provide electricity to ratepayers at the cost of production."
Amazon invests in SMR firm X-energy
Amazon is also making an investment in X-energy, a developer of SMR and fuel. X-energy’s reactor design will be used in the Energy Northwest projects.
X-energy this week announced its Series C-1 financing round of approximately $500 million, anchored by Amazon. Citadel Founder and CEO Ken Griffin, affiliates of Ares Management Corporation NGP, and the University of Michigan join Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund in the financing round.
“This collaboration between Amazon and X-energy is a significant step toward accelerating advanced nuclear technologies that can help us bring new sources of carbon-free energy to the grid cost-effectively and safely,” said Amazon’s Miller. “We need smart solutions that can help us meet growing energy demands while also addressing climate change. X-energy’s technology will be integral in helping achieve this, and is an important step in Amazon’s work to achieve our Climate Pledge commitment to be net-zero by 2040.”
The investment includes manufacturing capacity to develop the SMR equipment to support more than 5GW of new nuclear energy projects utilizing X-energy’s technology by 2039.
X-energy and Amazon also plan to establish and standardize a deployment and financing model to develop projects in partnership with infrastructure and utility partners.
“Amazon and X-energy are poised to define the future of advanced nuclear energy in the commercial marketplace,” said X-energy CEO J. Clay Sell. “We deeply appreciate our earliest funders and collaborators, notably the US Department of Energy and Dow Inc. With Amazon, Ken Griffin, and our other strategic investors, we are now uniquely suited to deliver on this transformative vision for the future of energy and tech.”
X-energy will be involved in Amazon’s partnership with Energy Northwest. The SMRs at the Energy Northwest projects will be X-energy’s Xe-100 design, a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor that can [provide 80MW each. Energy Northwest said it has engaged extensively with X-energy on plans for an Xe-100 facility since 2020.
“Nuclear is an important source of clean and reliable power that our nation needs to meet the growing demand for energy,” said Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel. “X-energy provides an impactful solution to a critical challenge – and the support Amazon, Dow, and other major corporations have provided underscores its potential and merit.”
AWS partners with Dominion for SMRs in Virginia
In Virginia, Amazon has signed an agreement with utility company Dominion Energy to explore the development of an SMR project near Dominion’s existing North Anna nuclear power station. The company said this will bring at least 300MW of power to the Virginia region.
"This agreement builds on our longstanding partnership with Amazon and other leading tech companies to accelerate the development of carbon-free power generation in Virginia," said Robert M. Blue, chair, president and CEO of Dominion Energy. "It's an important step forward in serving our customers' growing needs with reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy. This collaboration gives us a potential path to advance SMRs with minimal rate impacts for our residential customers and substantially reduced development risk."
Though there are few details, Dominion said the Memorandum of Understanding documents the companies' efforts to “jointly explore innovative ways” to advance SMR development and financing while also mitigating potential cost and development risks for customers and capital providers.
Amazon’s Miller added: "We're excited to innovate alongside Dominion to explore the opportunities that Small Modular Reactors can bring to Virginia, while also helping us all address climate change."
In July, Dominion Energy announced a request for proposals (RFP) from SMR companies to evaluate the feasibility of developing an SMR at the company's North Anna Power Station in Louisa County, Virginia. While it noted the RFP is not a commitment to build an SMR at the site, Dominion said it was “an important first step” in evaluating the technology and feasibility of deployment.
Amid growing data center capacity demands and acute grid capacity issues, data center and cloud companies are increasingly exploring the potential of nuclear power to bring large amounts of new carbon-free baseload capacity online quickly.
Back in March, AWS acquired Talen Energy’s data center campus next to the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania for $650 million. At the time, it was said to be able to support up to 960MW. In May, AWS was granted a 1,600-acre rezoning request to develop 15 data center buildings.
Then, in September, Microsoft announced that it would take up 100 percent of a revived Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in an 837MW, 20-year deal. It has also previously signed PPA deals to procure the output of several other nuclear plants.
Meanwhile, Oracle founder Larry Ellison claims that his company plans to build a 1GW data center campus backed by three SMRs, but has yet to provide any further details.
Colocation giant Equinix has agreed to purchase 500MW in PPAs from fast fission reactor company Oklo, while Prometheus Hyperscale has also agreed to purchase 100MW from the Sam Altman-backed business.
Earlier this week, Google announced a 500MW deal with SMR provider Kairos Power. The firm expects the first of the six to seven reactors under the agreement to come online in 2030.
Despite widespread enthusiasm among data center operators, SMRs currently remain an unproven technology that faces significant regulatory hurdles.
