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Microsoft To Purchase Three-Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant

Constellation Energy, the owner of Three-Mile Island, announced on Friday, September 20 Microsoft will purchase the shuttered nuclear power plant to supply energy to one of its data centers. Much of the deal between Constellation Energy and Microsoft remains under wraps, so which data center the plant will power has yet to be revealed.

The Harrisburg, PA-based Three-Mile Island was the site of the U.S.’s worst commercial nuclear power plant incident in 1979. It was shut down in 2019 by its parent company Exelon. However, nuclear power has been revived recently due to its status as a high-capacity energy source producing zero emissions, making it a favorable choice for industries like tech.

Cloud computing and the AI boom have led to an increased demand from Big Tech for large-scale data centers that are energy-intensive. According to The Associated Press, “data centers’ share of U.S. electricity use in the United States is around 4% currently, with some projections expecting that to double by 2030.” Data centers have effectively pushed Big Tech companies such as Microsoft to go back on their green initiatives. Judging by this deal between Constellation Energy and Microsoft, nuclear could be the alternative Big Tech has been waiting for.

Unit 1 of Three-Mile Island remains in “excellent condition,” according to Constellation Energy, and the company aims to have it back in operation by 2028. Constellation Energy disclosed it will cost $1.6 billion to restart Unit 1 and is not currently seeking state or federal funding to do so. Unit 2, the reactor that collapsed in 1979, will remain sealed, but Unit 1 is said to have “a generating capacity of 837 megawatts,” which can power more than 800,000 homes.

⚡️ Community Poll ⚡️

In last week’s poll, 56% of the TechDay Express community voted that LWMs will become the new LLMs in the AI space.

Even More Headlines

🌋 In an unexpected collab, oil companies and clean energy representatives are scouting geothermal startups.

💨 Hydrogen energy is becoming popular, with 23 hydrogen-focused startups amalgamating $1.4 billion in equity funding this year.

⚡️ The U.S. is the country that has directed the most capital to climate tech financing, totaling $6.7 billion in H1 2024.

🦺 Construction company Turner Construction announces plans to invest in climate tech startups that decarbonize buildings.

Hear From the Top Climate Tech Investors and Industry Experts at TechDay Climate Tech Founders Day

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📚 Dive A Bit Deeper 📚

🌎 THERE’S MORE THAN VC — Venture capital is the most common type of financing early-stage startups seek out because it’s high-risk, high-reward and can give startups eager to grow fast and scale quickly the chance to do so. But there are other types of funding out there, especially ones suited for climate tech startups.

❓Q&A: WHAT’S GOING ON IN CLIMATE TECH — Climate tech is a vast and innovative field. What is trending in climate tech, where the most hype is being directed in the space, the scalability of specific types of climate tech startups, and more are discussed in this Q&A with GlobalData analyst Christopher Papadopoullos.