Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) plans to use small modular nuclear reactors to power its artificial intelligence (A.I.) models and applications.
Silicon Valley-based Alphabet has signed the first corporate agreement to source electricity directly from small nuclear reactors.
The agreement that Alphabet has signed is with privately held Kairos Power and will help the technology giant meet its future energy needs as demand skyrockets.
Kairos Power isn’t expected to have its first small modular nuclear reactor operational until 2030. And the deal is dependent on Kairos securing approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
However, Alphabet said it signed the agreement now as it looks to its future energy requirements as A.I. technologies grow exponentially.
Alphabet said in a statement that it has agreed to purchase 500 megawatts of power from six to seven small nuclear reactors beginning in 2030.
Alphabet is the latest technology company to source clean energy from nuclear sources.
This spring, Amazon (AMZN) agreed to buy a nuclear-powered data centre from Talen Energy (TLN). In September, Microsoft (MSFT) announced a plan to source nuclear power from the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania.
Efforts to source nuclear energy come as U.S. data centre power is forecast to triple by 2030 due to the growing use of A.I. and other technologies.
Small modular nuclear reactors are not as large as traditional reactors and are portable in some cases. They can often be set-up near the site where their power is to be used.
The stock of Alphabet has increased 19% year-to-date and currently trades at $164.96 U.S. per share.