NextEra Energy, Google collaborate to accelerate U.S. nuclear energy deployment

NextEra Energy (NEE) announced two agreements with Google aiming to strengthen U.S. nuclear leadership and help meet growing energy demand from AI with reliable nuclear energy. The cornerstone of this collaboration is the planned restart of the Duane Arnold Energy Center, Iowa’s only nuclear facility located in Palo, near Cedar Rapids. Once operational, Google will purchase power from the 615-MW plant as a 24/7 carbon-free energy source to help power Google’s growing cloud and AI infrastructure in Iowa. In addition to Google’s 25-year agreement to purchase carbon-free nuclear energy from the Duane Arnold plant, one of the plant’s current minority owners, Central Iowa Power Cooperative, will purchase the remaining portion of the plant’s output on the same terms as Google. NextEra Energy has signed definitive agreements to acquire CIPCO and Corn Belt Power Cooperative’s combined 30% interest in the plant, which will bring NextEra Energy’s ownership to 100%. Duane Arnold, which was shut down in 2020, is expected to be online and delivering electricity onto the grid by Q1 2029, pending regulatory approvals to restart the plant. The power purchase agreement with Google enables the investment to restart the plant and covers costs for the production of energy from Duane Arnold. NextEra Energy and Google have also signed an agreement to explore the development of new nuclear generation to be deployed in the U.S. NextEra Energy now has nearly 3 GW of energy projects executed with Google across the country.