Following other tech giants, Meta has also set its sights on nuclear energy

Author: Li Xiaoyin

Source: Hard AI

To meet the growing electricity demand of AI technology, Meta has also joined the ranks of embracing nuclear energy.

On Tuesday local time, Meta released a Request for Proposal (RFP), stating plans to add 1-4 gigawatts (1 gigawatt = 1 billion watts) of nuclear power generation capacity in the early 2030s, and is seeking cooperation from relevant nuclear developers to support the growing demand for power supply to data centers and surrounding communities.

Meta stated:

"We believe nuclear energy will play a key role in the transition to a cleaner, more reliable, and more diverse power grid."

The announcement shows that Meta is looking for "parties that can be involved from the beginning to the end of the project," meaning the company seeks to establish partnerships with entities that can track the entire lifecycle of nuclear projects, from site selection and licensing to design, construction, and operation.

Urvi Parekh, Meta's global energy head, stated:

"We hope our partners can be involved from start to finish. Meta is ready to provide long-term support and collaboration to optimize project development."

This move marks that, following tech giants like Microsoft and Google, Meta is also turning to nuclear power generation.

Wall Street Journal previously mentioned that in September, Oracle's chairman announced plans to design data centers powered by nuclear reactors, Microsoft also reached an agreement in the same month, stating it would find nuclear energy sources for data center energy consumption by restarting abandoned nuclear power plants, and Google stated in October that it would study the use of nuclear energy as a green energy source to power its data centers.

Unlike other tech giants, Meta is open to various reactor sizes, technologies, and locations, which reports suggest means the company is "casting a wider net."

Urvi Parekh stated that Meta maintains a "geographically neutral" stance, as the fastest locations for deploying reactors may not be connected to specific data center locations.

The report analysis suggests that this flexibility allows Meta to prioritize regions that can most effectively develop nuclear projects.

Additionally, Parekh stated that besides the acquisition costs at project launch, Meta is also willing to share costs in the early stages of development:

"Compared to our ongoing investments in renewable energy projects like solar and wind, nuclear projects are more capital-intensive, have longer development cycles, face more regulatory requirements, and are expected to have longer operational lifespans."

"These differences mean that we need to intervene early in the lifecycle of nuclear energy project development and consider its operational requirements when designing contracts."