Nuclear expertise firm TerraPower and Fb, Instagram, and WhatsApp proprietor Meta introduced a brand new settlement to construct as much as 8 superior nuclear reactors using TerraPower’s “Natrium” expertise, supporting Meta’s rising power wants and sustainability targets with a brand new supply of as a lot as 2.4 GW of carbon-free power.
Launched in 2008 by Invoice Gates, Nathan Myhrvold and John Gilleland, TerraPower is a nuclear innovation firm aimed toward creating applied sciences to supply secure, inexpensive and considerable carbon-free power. Invoice Gates presently serves as Chair of TerraPower’s board.
The corporate’s Natrium system is designed to combine right into a grid with excessive ranges of variable-output renewables, by combining a 345 MW sodium quick reactor with a molten salt power storage system that may retain giant quantities of power that can be utilized to energy the grid at peak demand when climate or darkness cut back renewable output.
Whereas offering a baseload of 345 MW, every vegetation’ built-in storage system can increase power supply to as much as 500 MW for over 5 hours.
TerraPower lately started building on the primary commercial-scale, superior nuclear mission within the U.S., which is predicted to be full in 2030.
Beneath the brand new settlement, Meta will present funding to help the deployment of the Natrium vegetation, starting with help for the early growth of two new Natrium models, and Meta may even obtain rights for power for as much as six extra models. Supply of the extra models is anticipated for as early as 2032.
Chris Levesque, TerraPower President and CEO, mentioned:
“To efficiently handle rising power demand, we should deploy gigawatts of superior nuclear power within the 2030s. This settlement with Meta is designed to help the fast deployment of our Natrium expertise that gives the dependable, versatile, and carbon-free energy our nation wants.”
The announcement is the most recent in a sequence of strikes by Meta to show to nuclear energy to deal with the necessity for a fast enhance in electrical energy manufacturing to accommodate the expansion in AI-driven information middle capability and energy consumption, whereas defending its targets to cut back the emissions influence of its operations.
Meta has set targets to achieve net-zero emissions throughout its worth chain by 2030, and to proceed to match 100% of the electrical energy utilized in its information facilities and workplaces with renewable power. Within the firm’s 2024 Sustainability Report, Meta mentioned that whereas it has maintained internet zero in its operations since 2020, its 2030 internet zero worth chain purpose can be considerably more durable to attain, including that “the problem of reaching our sustainability targets given the elevated demand for power and sources pushed by AI shouldn’t be distinctive to Meta.”
In late 2024, the corporate introduced the launch of a request for proposals (RFPs) for nuclear power builders within the U.S. to supply new nuclear capability, focusing on the addition of between 1-to-4 gigawatts (GW) of recent nuclear technology, with supply to start within the early 2030s. Early final 12 months, Meta, alongside firms together with its tech large friends Amazon and Google signed a pledge to help the purpose to triple international nuclear power capability by 2050.
The brand new settlement with TerraPower marks Meta’s largest help of superior nuclear applied sciences to this point.
Urvi Parekh, Director of International Vitality at Meta, mentioned:
“Meta is dedicated to supporting revolutionary power options that may ship dependable, scalable, and clear energy for our operations and the communities we serve. This settlement with TerraPower – the results of Meta’s nuclear RFP course of, which recognized main builders of nuclear power to assist us advance our power targets – marks a major step ahead in advancing next-generation nuclear expertise.”
