Google, Kairos Power, and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) are collaborating to power Google's data centres with advanced nuclear energy. TVA will be the first US utility to enter a power purchase agreement for electricity from a Generation IV nuclear reactor. The agreement involves Kairos Power's Hermes 2 reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, delivering up to 50 megawatts to the TVA grid. This power will support Google's data centres in Tennessee and Alabama.
Scheduled to begin operations in 2030, the Hermes 2 plant will increase its output from 28 MW to 50 MW. Google will receive clean energy attributes from the plant via the TVA system, furthering the decarbonisation of its data centre operations and supporting regional growth. This initiative underscores the increasing interest from utilities and the tech sector in nuclear power to meet clean energy demands.
This partnership marks the first deployment of Kairos Power's advanced nuclear reactor technology at a commercial scale. It aims to bring 500 MW of new nuclear capacity online by 2035 to support Google's expanding energy needs. Lessons learned from the Hermes 2 project are expected to reduce the costs of future reactors, improving the economics of clean power generation.
