By Anadolu Agency
October 17, 2024 3:39 pmUS tech giant Amazon announced Wednesday it entered into several agreements to support the advancement of small modular reactors (SMR) as part of the company’s plan to transition to carbon-free energy.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud computing subsidiary, signed a new agreement with Energy Northwest for four advanced SMRs, which will be constructed, owned and operated by Energy Northwest.
In the first phase of the project, the reactors are expected to generate roughly 320 megawatts (MW) of capacity, with the option to increase to 960 MW in total, ‘enough to power the equivalent of more than 770,000 US homes,’ the company said.
‘The projects will help meet the forecasted energy needs of the Pacific Northwest beginning in the early 2030s,’ AWS said.
Amazon will also invest in X-energy, a leading developer of next-generation SMR reactors and fuel. The advanced nuclear reactor design will be used in the Energy Northwest project, according to the statement.
‘The investment includes manufacturing capacity to develop the SMR equipment to support more than five gigawatts of new nuclear energy projects utilizing X-energy’s technology,’ it added.
The company also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with utility company Dominion Energy in the state of Virginia to explore innovative new development structures that would help advance potential SMR development.
The deal will bring at least 300 megawatts of power to the Virginia region, ‘where Dominion projects that power demands will increase by 85% over the next 15 years,’ the company said.
Amazon previously signed an agreement to co-locate a data center facility next to Talen Energy’s nuclear facility in Pennsylvania, ‘which will directly power our data centers with carbon-free energy, and helps preserve this existing reactor.’
Amazon’s deals come after Google signed a deal to buy nuclear energy from Kairos Power, marking the first of its kind globally. In September, Microsoft also secured a deal to restart operations at the Three Mile Island power plant in the US.
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