Bill Gates' TerraPower Has Deal to Use Nuclear Power for Data Centers
TerraPower, the nuclear energy company founded by former Microsoft CEO and co-founder Bill Gates, announced it has a memorandum of understanding with a major U.S. data center developer to deploy advanced nuclear reactors to power existing and future facilities. TerraPower on Jan. 21 said it will work with Sabey Data Centers (SDC) on "a strategic collaboration agreement to leverage advanced nuclear Natrium plants into SDC's current and future data center operations." TerraPower last year broke ground on the first U.S. advanced nuclear project, located near PacifiCorp's Naughton Power Plant in Wyoming. The Naughton plant plans to stop burning coal in 2026, and stop its use of natural gas within the next decade. TerraPower in a news release said the venture will explore building new Natrium plants in the Rocky Mountain region, and also Texas, "to support growing power needs for SDC-owned data centers." Gates told the audience at last year's groundbreaking that they were "standing on what will soon be the bedrock of America's energy future ... this is a big step toward safe, abundant, zero-carbon energy, and it's important for the future of this country that projects like this succeed."
'Clean, Reliable, Adaptable Solutions'
"At its heart, TerraPower is an innovation-driven company, and we are thrilled to collaborate with Sabey to address the surging energy demands of data centers with clean, reliable and adaptable solutions like the Natrium technology," said Chris Levesque, TerraPower president and CEO, who in March of last year said the company was moving forward with the project. "The energy sector is transforming at an unprecedented pace after decades of business as usual, and meaningful progress will require strategic collaboration across industries. Together, we can ensure advanced nuclear technology plays a vital role in securing a clean, resilient energy grid." The companies said they "will explore multiple project execution structures to meet the exponential demand in data center energy needs with TerraPower's innovative advanced nuclear + storage Natrium technology." [caption id="attachment_155797" align="alignnone" width="640"]
The Natrium system features a 345-MWe reactor and can be optimized for specific markets. Its innovative thermal storage has the potential to boost the system's output to 500-MWe of power for more than five and a half hours when needed. Courtesy: TerraPower[/caption] Several tech companies are looking at nuclear power as a viable option to provide electricity for their energy-intensive operations. Microsoft made a deal in September to help restart a retired reactor at Three Mile Island. Google and Amazon also have announced plans to support the development of advanced reactors to power their data centers. Tim Mirick, president of SDC, said, "Sabey Data Centers is dedicated to pioneering sustainable energy solutions to support our customers' growth. Our strategic collaboration with TerraPower represents a substantial move toward integrating clean, innovative power technologies into the heart of our operations.” "This strategic relationship exemplifies the forward-thinking collaboration necessary to meet the evolving energy demands of our digital future," said Jeffrey Kanne, vice chairman of SDC and president and CEO of National Real Estate Advisors.
Increase in Electricity Demand
Industry experts have said the rise of artificial intelligence and data centers is projected to increase U.S. electricity demand by 323 TWh by 2030. The Natrium technology is the first advanced nuclear technology to be deployed in the U.S. It features a 345-MW sodium-cooled fast reactor with a patented molten salt-based energy storage system. The storage technology can boost the system's output to 500 MW of power, and can be tailored to match the needs of a specific site. TerraPower has said the energy storage system is designed to keep base output steady to support power reliability, and can ramp up quickly during periods of peak demand for electricity. The companies said the technology "is well suited to meet the power demands of data centers." Texas-based SDC is among the largest private data center providers in the world. The company has been developing, building, and operating U.S. data centers for more than two decades. The company has said it focuses on whole-building energy efficiency with a goal of achieving carbon-free energy operations across its portfolio. TerraPower said the Natrium technology is the only advanced nuclear technology with a construction permit application for a commercial reactor pending with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The first Natrium plant is being developed through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, a public-private partnership. That project is expected to be online in 2030 as the first commercial, utility-scale advanced nuclear power plant in the U.S. —Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.