Meta Powers Up AI: Secures Nuclear Energy for Data Centers

Published 1 day ago2 minute read
Uche Emeka
Uche Emeka
Meta Powers Up AI: Secures Nuclear Energy for Data Centers

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has significantly advanced its efforts to secure robust electricity sources for its rapidly expanding artificial intelligence (AI) data centers by striking nuclear power deals with three distinct companies: TerraPower, Oklo, and Vistra. These strategic agreements are specifically aimed at powering Meta's Prometheus AI data center, which is currently under construction in New Albany, Ohio. The Prometheus data center, first announced in July, is designed as a colossal 1-gigawatt cluster distributed across multiple buildings and is anticipated to become operational sometime this year.

While the financial terms of the individual deals with TerraPower, Oklo, and Vistra were not publicly disclosed, Meta released a statement on Friday outlining the collective impact of these agreements. The company, led by Mark Zuckerberg, asserted that these three deals are projected to support an impressive total of up to 6.6 gigawatts of new and existing clean energy by the year 2035. Meta emphasized the broader benefits, stating that these projects will "add reliable and firm power to the grid, reinforce America’s nuclear supply chain, and support new and existing jobs to build and operate American power plants."

Breaking down the specific agreements, Meta's deal with TerraPower is designed to provide crucial funding for the development of two innovative Natrium units. These units are projected to generate up to 690 megawatts of firm power, with delivery expected to commence as early as 2032. Beyond this initial phase, the agreement also grants Meta rights to secure energy from up to six additional Natrium units, which collectively have the potential to produce 2.1 gigawatts, targeted for delivery by 2035.

Concurrently, Meta has also entered into an agreement to purchase more than 2.1 gigawatts of energy from two operational Vistra nuclear power plants located in Ohio. This substantial energy procurement will be further supplemented by energy derived from planned expansions at these two Ohio facilities, as well as from a third Vistra plant situated in Pennsylvania. The third significant partnership involves Oklo, a company notably backed by OpenAI's Sam Altman as one of its largest investors. This collaboration will support the development of a substantial 1.2 gigawatt power campus in Pike County, Ohio, dedicated to bolstering Meta’s data centers within that region.

These recent series of nuclear power commitments build upon Meta's previously announced long-term energy strategy. In June, the tech giant revealed a separate 20-year deal with Constellation Energy, further solidifying its investment in sustainable and reliable energy sources to meet the intensive power demands of its advanced AI infrastructure.

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