Google Partners With Kairos Power For Advanced Nuclear Energy

Google announced a historic agreement with nuclear technology company Kairos Power to deploy small modular reactors across the United States in a deal aimed at providing up to 500 MW of carbon-free energy. The deal marks the first advanced nuclear power initiative for the company and the first-ever agreement to buy nuclear energy from multiple SMRs. This also aligns with the tech giant's ambition in order to meet its clean energy and climate goals amid growing energy consumption and emissions from expanding data centers.

As Google and other tech firms like Microsoft try to reduce the impact of the increase in emissions stemming from their growing data centers, they are now looking into advanced nuclear power as a complement to renewable energy sources. Google plans to operate completely on carbon-free energy 24/7 by 2030 and has recently announced a 13% increase in emissions for 2023, which reflects the difficulty of trying to synchronize the growth in demand for electricity with carbon-free energy projects. This deal with Kairos Power will keep Google on course toward cutting 50% of its emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero by then.

A 2016-established nuclear power company, Kairos Power, is working on small modular reactors with a molten salt cooling system and ceramic fuel design. The development will be safer and cost less for nuclear power generation. Through the agreement, Kairos will supply clean electricity to Google's data centers in a series of reactors. Google will buy environmental attributes through Power Purchase Agreements from the reactors. The first reactor should come onstream by 2030, while more reactors should be up by 2035.

It's a partnership with Google, via Kairos Power," said Mike Laufer, CEO and co-founder of the company. "This highlights the significance of the relationship: during development, working with Google will drive both the cost and schedule certainty for the technology. Therefore, through close collaboration, Google will position itself not as a customer but as an active partner in advancing nuclear technology.".

According to Google's Chief Sustainability Officer, Kate Brandt, the agreement is one of the big milestones for the company to reach 24/7 carbon-free energy. Google hopes that through this agreement, it can bring advanced nuclear technology to market, bringing clean, safe, and affordable nuclear power into more communities.