AI hyperscalers are signing power-purchase agreements (PPAs) directly with — and restarting — large nuclear and gas plants to secure 24/7 power for data centres. The biggest publicly announced deals to date pair Microsoft with the Three Mile Island restart (Crane Clean Energy Center), Amazon with Talen's Susquehanna nuclear station, and Meta with Constellation's Clinton plant. Below, each deal links to the actual power plant behind it — capacity, commissioning year and fuel — not just the headline.
| Buyer | Plant | Fuel | MW | Deal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Three Mile Island / Crane Clean Energy Center · 1974 · 2,719 MW | Nuclear | 835 | 20-yr PPA; Unit 1 restart targeted ~2027 (Constellation) |
| Amazon | Susquehanna Steam Electric Station · 2018 · 3 MW | Nuclear | up to 960 | Co-located data-centre campus PPA (Talen Energy) |
| Meta | Clinton Clean Energy Center · None · 24 MW | Nuclear | ~1,100 | 20-yr nuclear PPA (Constellation) |
| Kairos / TVA SMR & nuclear | Nuclear/SMR | ~500 | SMR offtake + carbon-free PPAs | |
| Microsoft | Helion / fusion (forward) | Fusion | 50 | First-of-a-kind forward power agreement |
Deals are public announcements (company press / trade press, 2024-2026). Plant capacity/year/fuel from PowerAtlas open data (WRI GPPD, CC BY 4.0) where the plant is in the dataset. Figures evolve — treat as indicative.
For the first time, individual power plants are being matched to individual technology companies. PowerAtlas is the open layer underneath: every plant named in a deal has a page with its capacity, commissioning year, owner and fuel, so the deal can be checked against the asset.
Data centres run flat-out 24/7, so the power source has to as well. That profile is why hyperscalers buy existing nuclear output and gas, and sign forward SMR deals, rather than lean on intermittent renewables alone:
| Source | Round-the-clock? | Carbon-free? | Speed to power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Existing nuclear (PPA / restart) | Yes | Yes | Fast — the plant already exists |
| Gas turbine (new) | Yes | No | Slow — 5-7 yr lead time |
| Solar + storage | Partial | Yes | Fast to build, intermittent output |
| SMR (forward deals) | Yes (future) | Yes | End of decade |
A hyperscale AI campus can need 100s of MW of firm power; restarting or contracting an existing reactor delivers that fastest, which is why these deals target operating/retired nuclear plants.
Every gas turbine, HRSG and steam line in this fleet — and every kW of data-centre waste heat — is a hot surface. Inzonex modular removable insulation cuts surface heat loss up to 96% while keeping flanges accessible for maintenance.
See Inzonex modular insulation →Publicly announced deals include Microsoft–Three Mile Island/Crane (Constellation), Amazon–Susquehanna (Talen), and Meta–Clinton (Constellation). See the table for capacity and plant details.
Nuclear offers 24/7 carbon-free baseload that matches data-centre load profiles, while gas-turbine lead times (5-7 years) and grid interconnection queues delay other options.
A mix — some are restarts of retired units (Three Mile Island Unit 1), some are long-term PPAs on operating plants, and some are forward agreements for SMRs and first-of-a-kind technology.
Deal terms: public company and trade-press announcements (2024-2026). Plant attributes: PowerAtlas (WRI GPPD / Global Energy Monitor, CC BY 4.0). Author: Dmytro Aheiev (ORCID 0009-0001-5512-0291). We report announced deals and verified plant data only; deal sizes are as publicly stated and may change.
Externally-sourced figures are attributed and link to primary sources; deal terms are public company/trade-press announcements. Author: Dmytro Aheiev (ORCID 0009-0001-5512-0291).