The firm needs so as to add 1 to 4 gigawatts of recent U.S. nuclear technology capability beginning within the early 2030s, it mentioned in a launch. A typical U.S. nuclear plant has a capability of about 1 gigawatt.
“At Meta, we consider nuclear vitality will play a pivotal position within the transition to a cleaner, extra dependable, and diversified electrical grid,” the corporate mentioned in a launch.
U.S. knowledge middle energy use is predicted to roughly triple between 2023 and 2030 and would require about 47 gigawatts of recent technology capability, based on Goldman Sachs estimates.
Meta mentioned it’s searching for builders with experience in group engagement, improvement and allowing, and would think about both small modular reactors, an rising a part of the enterprise that isn’t but business, or bigger nuclear reactors much like right this moment’s fleet of U.S. nuclear vegetation.
Meta mentioned it is going to take submissions from builders that wish to participate within the request for proposals till Feb. 7, 2025.
The firm mentioned it was utilizing the request-for-proposal course of as a result of, in comparison with renewable vitality initiatives like photo voltaic and wind, nuclear is extra capital-intensive, takes longer to develop, and is topic to extra regulatory necessities.
“An RFP course of will enable us to method these initiatives completely and thoughtfully with these concerns in thoughts,” it mentioned.
(This story has been corrected to repair the deadline for proposals from Jan. 3 to Jan. 7, in paragraph 8)
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Reporting by Timothy Gardner; enhancing by Jonathan Oatis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.