Google says that it's planning to partner with utility company NextEra Energy to reopen Iowa's only nuclear power plant, as the tech giant continues to look for sources of low-carbon energy to power its artificial intelligence data centers.

According to an October 27 release from NextEra, Google will purchase power from the 615-megawatt Duane Arnold Energy Center (DAEC) plant to grow the company's cloud and AI infrastructure in Iowa, while state energy provider Central Iowa Power Cooperative will buy the remaining portion of the nuclear facility's output. The DAEC has been out of service since 2020, when it was determined that electricity provided by the plant was proving to be more expensive compared to alternative sources such as natural gas and wind. 

"Restarting Duane Arnold marks an important milestone for NextEra Energy," NextEra CEO John Ketchum said. "Our partnership with Google not only brings nuclear energy back to Iowa — it also accelerates the development of next-generation nuclear technology."

Tech companies have made substantial commitments to nuclear energy over the last year-plus, as power demand from AI data centers has continued to grow. Goldman-Sachs predicts that AI will drive a 160% increase in data center power demand between 2022 and 2030, and that the share of power consumed in the U.S. by data centers will rise from 2% to 8% over that same period. To meet that demand, Google already has plans to spin up advanced nuclear reactors at three sites by 2035, while Amazon has signed agreements to develop four reactors in Washington state, and Microsoft has designs to restart Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island plant.

Google is hoping to get the DAEC plant online and delivering electricity to the grid by early 2029, although the company still needs to get regulatory approval for the project.