Energy US reactor to be reconnected to the grid for Microsoft data centers

A reactor at the decommissioned US nuclear power plant Three Mile Island is being restarted to provide power for Microsoft data centers. The software giant has agreed to purchase the energy produced for 20 years, according to the operating company Constellation Energy.

Microsoft is currently a pioneer in the use of artificial intelligence (AI). However, AI entails high energy requirements in data centers. The companies have so far tried to switch to renewable energies and otherwise balance out their emissions of climate-damaging CO2 by planting trees, for example.

In an analysis, experts from the bank Goldman Sachs referred to estimates that a query on ChatGPT could consume six to ten times more energy than a traditional Google search.

This would be the first time that a decommissioned nuclear power plant in the USA has been reconnected to the grid. Constellation CEO Joe Dominquez told the financial service Bloomberg that the plant could be up and running again in 2027 if the feed-in to the power grid is resolved by then.

SDA