Google, for example, has begun work on $20 billion worth of renewable power projects to feed several massive data centers. The tech firm also has a contract with nuclear startup Kairos for 500 megawatts worth of carbon-free electricity by the end of the decade. Microsoft, which is also heavily invested in renewables, is working with power provider Constellation to restart a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island that was shuttered in 2019. And Switch, a data center company, signed an agreement with Sam Altman-backed nuclear startup Oklo for a whopping 12 gigawatts of electricity by 2044.
The challenge will be matching supply with demand, the report notes. While most data centers are sited near major urban areas, building nuclear reactors, no matter how small, is more challenging in those locations. Renewables tend to have easier permitting, but they require more land. And both nuclear and renewables will need new transmission lines, and those take years to build as well.