Google has signed a power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy to support upgrades that the companies expect to add 890 megawatts of nuclear capacity to the PJM grid before the end of 2032. Constellation will also deploy Google Cloud’s Gemini Enterprise to help plan the upgrades and run its plants.
The work covers 11 reactors at six operating nuclear plants in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The upgrades, known as uprates, increase a reactor’s output by modernizing equipment such as turbines, steam generators and digital control systems. Google says its agreement gives Constellation the long-term revenue needed to fund the work, with no associated costs for other grid customers.
The upgrades will add power to the PJM grid
PJM spans 13 states and serves 67 million people. Google says the projects will sustain roughly 4,400 existing jobs and support approximately 7,200 new construction jobs. The company links the agreement to growing electricity demand from its data centers.
Constellation plans to use Gemini Enterprise workflows across its operations to speed up uprate planning, streamline construction and optimize plant output, according to Google. The announcement gives no separate rollout date for that deployment.
Google adds to its nuclear agreements
Google says this agreement brings the new United States nuclear capacity enabled by its uprate and reactor restart deals to more than 1.5 gigawatts. Its other agreements include uprates with Georgia Power and a planned restart of the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa with NextEra Energy.
The Department of Energy has a goal of adding 5 gigawatts of domestic nuclear capacity through uprates and restarts by 2030. Google expects its agreements involving existing nuclear facilities to account for nearly a quarter of that goal by the end of the decade. The Constellation uprates are due to add their 890 megawatts to the PJM grid before the end of 2032.
