Microsoft recently signed an agreement to revive the closed Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. If approved by regulators, the software developer will have exclusive rights to 100 percent of the output of AI data center requirements.
Constellation, the owner of the Three Mile Island factory, announced a power purchase agreement with Microsoft earlier today, which should see the site back online by 2028, assuming regulators approve it.
The reactor that Microsoft plans to source its power from was decommissioned in 2019 for economic reasons, and is located next to a unit that was shut down in 1979 after the worst nuclear accident in US history. The plant that Constellation plans to reopen could produce 837 megawatts of power, enough to power more than 800,000 homes — indicating the huge amount of power needed for data centers and Microsoft’s AI ambitions.
Microsoft has agreed to buy power from the center — to be renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center in honor of the late Chris Crane, Exelon’s former CEO — for 20 years in a first-of-its-kind software deal.
Microsoft’s greenhouse gas emissions are increasing with its focus on AI, putting its critical climate goals at risk. Bloomberg reports that this nuclear facility will help Microsoft’s plans to start its data centers on clean energy by 2025, as well as the expansion of energy data centers in Chicago, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
“This agreement is a milestone in Microsoft’s efforts to help decarbonize the carbon grid to support our commitment to becoming carbon negative,” said Bobby Hollis, vice president of energy at Microsoft. “Microsoft continues to work with energy providers to develop carbon-free energy sources to help meet grid capacity and reliability requirements.”
Microsoft has been betting on the next generation of nuclear reactors to power its data center and AI systems lately, looking for a candidate for the small modular reactors (SMR) program last year. Microsoft founder Bill Gates also “strongly believes that nuclear power can help us solve the climate problem.”
Constellation will invest $1.6 billion to refurbish the plant, and the company will need approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to bring the site back online, as well as approvals from state and local agencies. Constellation is also pursuing a license renewal to extend plant operations until at least 2054.