A deal with Microsoft will support the restart of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant
Microsoft signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy to reopen the Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear reactor as the Crane Clean Energy Center, aiming to power its AI-driven data centers with carbon-free energy and support its goal of becoming carbon-negative by 2030.
In a recent press release, Constellation Energy announced it entered a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft. The agreement will support the Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear reactor reopening and plans to transform the facility into the Crane Clean Energy Center. The Unit 1 nuclear reactor is a fully independent facility next to Unit 2, which will go down in history as the site of an infamous partial nuclear meltdown. Rated Level 5 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, the accident is the worst in the history of US-based commercial nuclear power plants. Unit 2 has been non-operational since 1979 and will soon be decommissioned by its owner.
The details of the deal between both companies are scarce. Constellation claims that the Crane Clean Energy Center (CCEC) will start operating in 2028, once the plant has undergone substantial restorations and gains approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Constellation has also stated it plans to apply for a separate license renewal request that will enable the (CCEC) to extend its operations until 2054. Once online, the plant will generate 835 megawatts, of which Microsoft bought their totality for the next 20 years.
Microsoft's move to invest in nuclear power comes after Bloomberg reported earlier this year that the company's impact to climate change was 30% higher in 2023 than in 2020 when Microsoft revealed its plans to become a carbon-negative company by 2030. By Microsoft's admission, the setback in becoming carbon neutral can be attributed to the company's stake in the artificial intelligence market. As a result, the company is looking to broaden its approach to reaching carbon neutrality, which now includes investing in nuclear energy. Microsoft is hardly alone in this strategy: earlier this year, AWS bought the Cumulus Data Assets data center, which is directly powered by the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, for $650 million.
