Google announced that it’s bankrolling Elementl Power, a two-year old company with LinkedIn listing under 20 staff, to identify and permit three U.S. reactor sites, each slated for ≥ 600 MW. One block that size can light roughly 160,000 U.S. homes or a modern AI megacenter, giving Google a future stream of round-the-clock, carbon-free juice. Chris Colbert, Elementl Power’s CEO, said nuclear reactor deals with big tech firms “are necessary to mobilize the capital required to build new nuclear projects, which are critical to deliver safe, affordable and clean baseload power and help companies advance their long-term net zero goals.”
The details:
- Google disclosed neither price, reactor design nor location.
- Elementl, founded in 2022, has never built a plant (claiming that they’ll raise additional funding for the actual construction on the back of this deal).
- The search giant only holds an option to buy the electricity once the projects clear years of licensing and financing.
Why it matters: AI is turbocharging demand. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says global AI electricity use could hit 1,500 TWh by 2030—India-level consumption. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects data-center loads to double to >1,000 TWh by 2026, rivaling Japan’s grid. Cooling those servers guzzles water; Google’s own Chile data-center plan was rebooted over aquifer fears.
The bigger picture: Producing electricity from nuclear power creates far less carbon pollution than coal. For every unit of electricity (1 GWh), nuclear produces around 26 tons of CO₂-equivalent emissions over its entire life-cycle, while coal produces about 979 tons. That means nuclear is about 37 times cleaner than coal in terms of carbon emissions. Yet reactors generate radioactive waste and arrive slowly; Jevons-style rebound looms if cheaper, cleaner power simply fuels more compute.
Bottom line: Google’s second nuclear – the first with Kairos in October – deal signals Big Tech’s scramble to square relentless AI growth with net-zero vows. Whether startup Elemntl Power can deliver reactors before the grid strains – or before Google’s 2030 24/7 clean-energy pledge comes due – remains the open question
Credit: deepview
