Norma Field passes under power lines that extend from the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (TMI), which is operated by Exelon Generation in Middletown, Pennsylvania.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
Constellation Energy plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant and sell the electricity to Microsoft, highlighting the immense energy needs of the technology sector, which is currently building data centers to support artificial intelligence.
Constellation expects to have Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island reactor near Middletown, Pennsylvania, back online in 2028, subject to approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the company said Friday. Constellation also plans to apply for an extension of the plant’s operation until at least 2054.
Constellation shares rose about 15% in morning trading. The stock has more than doubled in value since the beginning of the year.
Microsoft will buy electricity from the plant under a 20-year agreement to cover the energy use of its data centers with carbon-free electricity. Constellation described the deal with Microsoft as the largest power purchase agreement the nuclear plant operator has ever signed.
“This decision is the strongest symbol of the rebirth of nuclear power as a clean and reliable energy source,” said Joe Dominguez, CEO of Constellation, in a conference call with investors on Friday morning.
Unit 1 was shut down in 2019 because nuclear power could hardly compete economically with cheap natural gas and renewable energy. Unit 1 is separate from the reactor that suffered a meltdown in 1979 in the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.
Constellation will rename the power plant the Crane Clean Energy Center. The facility is named after Chris Crane, the CEO of Constellation’s former parent company who died in April.
Constellation will invest $1.6 billion in restarting the power plant by 2028, including nuclear fuel, Chief Financial Officer Dan Eggers told investors during the conference call.
Technology chases nuclear power
Data center power consumption is expected to rise sharply in the coming decades as the technology sector advances artificial intelligence, which threatens to strain the power grid. While estimates vary, Goldman Sachs predicts that data centers will consume 8% of total U.S. electricity demand by 2030, up from 3% currently.
Electricity demand is also increasing due to the expansion of domestic production and the introduction of electric vehicles. Rystad Energy predicts that data centers and electric vehicles alone will have an additional electricity demand of 290 terawatt hours by the end of the decade, equivalent to Turkey’s entire consumption.
Technology companies are looking to nuclear power to meet growing electricity demand while meeting their climate goals. In March Amazon Web Services bought a data center campus from Talen Energy The electricity for this plant comes from the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant, also in Pennsylvania – a unique deal. oracle recently announced that it is designing a data center powered by three small nuclear reactors.
There is growing bipartisan support at both the federal and state levels for reviving the nuclear industry after a decade-long wave of reactor shutdowns.
Three Mile Island would be the second nuclear power plant in U.S. history to restart operations. The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Michigan would be the first, expected to restart in late 2025.
Restart process
Constellation expects the NRC to complete its review of Three Mile Island in 2027, Eggers said. The review will include a safety and environmental impact study.
“Based on our expertise in plant permitting and regulatory processes and by observing the Palisades restart, we are very confident that we can restore the plant’s operating license to the same condition it was in prior to its closure in 2019,” Eggers said.
The country’s largest grid operator, PJM Interconnection, also needs to assess Three Mile Island’s impact on the power grid before the nuclear plant can be restarted, Eggers said. Constellation plans to submit an application for grid connection to PJM next year, the manager said.
Eggers said the plant could potentially be restarted sooner than expected if PJM makes changes that speed up interconnection requests to address shrinking power supplies in the 13 states, particularly the Mid-Atlantic region, that the grid operator serves.
“In this rebirth, we see the clearest sign that America will turn to the enduring promise of nuclear energy, an old and loyal ally that is renewed and ready to light the way into the future,” Dominguez said.
