Amazon Web Services is investing over $500 million in nuclear power, announcing three projects from Virginia to Washington State. AWS, [Amazon](https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/AMZN/)’s subsidiary in cloud computing, has a massive and increasing need for clean energy as it expands its services into generative AI. It’s also a part of Amazon’s path to net-zero carbon emissions.
AWS announced it has signed an agreement with [Dominion Energy](https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/D/), Virginia’s utility company, to explore the development of a small modular nuclear reactor, or SMR, near Dominion’s existing North Anna nuclear power station. Nuclear reactors produce no carbon emissions.
An SMR is an advanced type of nuclear reactor with a smaller footprint that allows it to be built closer to the grid. They also have faster build times than traditional reactors, allowing them to come online sooner.
“We see the need for gigawatts of power in the coming years, and there’s not going to be enough wind and solar projects to be able to meet the needs, and so nuclear is a great opportunity,” said Matthew Garman, CEO of AWS. “Also, the technology is really advancing to a place with SMRs where there’s going to be a new technology that’s going to be safe and that’s going to be easy to manufacture in a much smaller form.”
Virginia is home to nearly half of all the data centers in the U.S., with one area in Northern Virginia dubbed Data Center Alley, the bulk of which is in Loudon County. An estimated 70% of the world’s internet traffic travels through Data Center Alley each day.
Dominion serves roughly 3,500 megawatts from 452 data centers across its service territory in Virginia. About 70% is in Data Center Alley. A single data center typically demands about 30 megawatts or greater, according to Dominion Energy. Bob Blue, its president and CEO, said in a recent quarterly earnings call that the utility now receives individual requests for 60 megawatts to 90 megawatts or greater. Dominion projects that power demand will increase by 85% over the next 15 years. AWS expects the new SMRs to bring at least 300 megawatts of power to the Virginia region.
“Small modular nuclear reactors will play a critical role in positioning Virginia as a leading nuclear innovation hub,” said Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin in a release. “Amazon Web Services’ commitment to this technology and their partnership with Dominion is a significant step forward to meet the future power needs of a growing Virginia.”
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Amazon Web Services is investing over $500 million in nuclear power, announcing three projects from Virginia to Washington State. AWS, [Amazon](https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/AMZN/)’s subsidiary in cloud computing, has a massive and increasing need for clean energy as it expands its services into generative AI. It’s also a part of Amazon’s path to net-zero carbon emissions.
AWS announced it has signed an agreement with [Dominion Energy](https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/D/), Virginia’s utility company, to explore the development of a small modular nuclear reactor, or SMR, near Dominion’s existing North Anna nuclear power station. Nuclear reactors produce no carbon emissions.
An SMR is an advanced type of nuclear reactor with a smaller footprint that allows it to be built closer to the grid. They also have faster build times than traditional reactors, allowing them to come online sooner.
Amazon is [the latest large tech company](https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/10/15/google-signs-deal-with-nuclear-power-startup-kairos-power.html) to buy into nuclear power to fuel the [growing demands from data centers](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/15/big-tech-turns-to-nuclear-energy-to-fuel-power-intensive-ai-ambitions.html). Earlier this week, [Google](https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/GOOG/) announced it will [purchase power](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/14/google-inks-deal-with-nuclear-company-as-data-center-power-demand-surges.html) from SMR developer Kairos Power. [Constellation Energy](https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/CEG/) is [restarting Three Mile Island](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/20/constellation-energy-to-restart-three-mile-island-and-sell-the-power-to-microsoft.html) to power [Microsoft](https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/MSFT/) data centers.
“We see the need for gigawatts of power in the coming years, and there’s not going to be enough wind and solar projects to be able to meet the needs, and so nuclear is a great opportunity,” said Matthew Garman, CEO of AWS. “Also, the technology is really advancing to a place with SMRs where there’s going to be a new technology that’s going to be safe and that’s going to be easy to manufacture in a much smaller form.”
Virginia is home to nearly half of all the data centers in the U.S., with one area in Northern Virginia dubbed Data Center Alley, the bulk of which is in Loudon County. An estimated 70% of the world’s internet traffic travels through Data Center Alley each day.
Dominion serves roughly 3,500 megawatts from 452 data centers across its service territory in Virginia. About 70% is in Data Center Alley. A single data center typically demands about 30 megawatts or greater, according to Dominion Energy. Bob Blue, its president and CEO, said in a recent quarterly earnings call that the utility now receives individual requests for 60 megawatts to 90 megawatts or greater. Dominion projects that power demand will increase by 85% over the next 15 years. AWS expects the new SMRs to bring at least 300 megawatts of power to the Virginia region.
“Small modular nuclear reactors will play a critical role in positioning Virginia as a leading nuclear innovation hub,” said Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin in a release. “Amazon Web Services’ commitment to this technology and their partnership with Dominion is a significant step forward to meet the future power needs of a growing Virginia.”
More: [https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/16/amazon-goes-nuclear-investing-more-than-500-million-to-develop-small-module-reactors.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/16/amazon-goes-nuclear-investing-more-than-500-million-to-develop-small-module-reactors.html)
Nuclear reactors cost a lot more than 500 million