NextEra Energy today announced two transformative agreements with Google, which will strengthen U.S. nuclear leadership and help meet growing energy demand from artificial intelligence (AI) with clean, reliable nuclear energy.
The cornerstone of this collaboration is the planned restart of the Duane Arnold Energy Center (Duane Arnold), Iowa’s only nuclear facility, which is located in Palo, near Cedar Rapids. Once operational, Google will purchase power from the 615-MW plant as a 24/7 carbon-free energy source to help power Google’s growing cloud and AI infrastructure in Iowa, while also strengthening local grid reliability, creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs, and driving significant economic investment to the Midwest region.
In addition to Google’s 25-year agreement to purchase carbon-free nuclear energy from the Duane Arnold plant, one of the plant’s current minority owners, Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO), will purchase the remaining portion of the plant’s output on the same terms as Google. NextEra Energy has signed definitive agreements to acquire CIPCO and Corn Belt Power Cooperative’s combined 30% interest in the plant, which will bring NextEra Energy’s ownership to 100%. Duane Arnold, which was shut down in 2020, is expected to be online and delivering electricity onto the grid by the first quarter of 2029, pending regulatory approvals to restart the plant.
Powering AI growth
As the U.S. enters a new era of innovation and opportunity driven by AI, this strategic collaboration aims to enable Google to grow its business needs responsibly. The power purchase agreement with Google enables the investment to restart the plant and covers costs for the production of energy from Duane Arnold. Restarting the plant will increase generation capacity for the region, and energy customers in Iowa will not bear any costs associated with the power Google purchases from the facility. NextEra Energy’s strategic investments in nuclear and advanced generation help position Google to deploy AI that can grow the American economy, create jobs, accelerate scientific advances, improve health and educational outcomes, and strengthen national and global security.
To that end, NextEra Energy and Google have also signed an agreement to explore the development of new nuclear generation to be deployed in the U.S., which would help power America’s growing electricity needs.
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