US tech industry buys nuclear power to serve AI

Beaver Valley nuclear facility in Pennsylvania - Photo: Bloomberg News

These agreements bring great benefits to the parties involved, but they also pose the risk of negatively affecting other industries as well as the people of the entire United States.

Green, stable solution

According to the Wall Street Journal, AI development requires a huge number of data centers that operate 24/7 without interruption. To do this, technology companies need a huge, stable power supply.

As the world in general and the US in particular work together towards climate goals, this supply also minimizes carbon emissions.

Conventional grid power cannot meet this unique need. In this situation, nuclear power emerges as a near-perfect solution for technology companies.

The Wall Street Journal quoted a well-informed source as saying that Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing arm of the giant Amazon, is about to reach an agreement to directly take electricity from a nuclear power plant in the eastern United States with Constellation Energy - the largest nuclear power supplier in the country.

Earlier in March, another Amazon subsidiary also reached an agreement to buy a nuclear-powered data center in Pennsylvania for $650 million.

In the technology world, AWS is one of the largest providers of infrastructure for AI development and training in the world. Therefore, AWS's move is completely possible and will be considered by the AI ​​development community.

Such agreements are expected to significantly accelerate the development of AI in the world, as the time to build data centers will be shortened by many years due to not having to wait for new energy infrastructure to be built.

On the other hand, they are also considered a “godsend” for the US nuclear energy industry. Over the past two decades, this sector has stagnated after a period of “excessive” construction in the 1990s. Many nuclear power plants could not compete with wind, solar and natural gas power, leading to forced closure.

However, tech companies are showing great willingness to pay more to monopolize carbon-free electricity supply, which is also a testament to their commitment to developing environmentally friendly AI.

With 14 nuclear power plants in the US and producing more than 20% of the country's nuclear power capacity, Constellation Energy is particularly benefiting from this trend, seeing its stock value increase by more than 70% in 2024 alone.

Concerns about energy insecurity

Although bringing great benefits to the parties involved, the above agreements pose potential risks to US energy security.

The fact that data centers draw power directly from nuclear power plants means that a large amount of energy will not be fed into the grid. As a result, the United States could face a serious power shortage. Customers across the country could also face higher electricity prices as supplies become scarce.

Despite raising the banner of developing AI that does not affect the environment, businesses completely "owning" nuclear power from the plant can negatively impact sustainable development goals.

Even as tech companies plan to offset their nuclear power use by funding other renewable projects, many experts worry that the energy industry will have to rely on natural gas to make up for lost power.

Renewable energy sources such as wind power, solar power... do not meet the criteria of generating electricity day and night without interruption.

"It's unprecedented for anyone to come to a nuclear power plant and say, 'We're going to take all the electricity you can produce,'" said Pennsylvania Consumer Advocate Patrick Cicero.

4.6 - 9%

It’s unclear how much energy data centers will need, according to the Wall Street Journal. Estimates range from 4% of total electricity consumption in 2023 to between 4.6% and 9% of electricity consumption in 2023, according to the Electric Power Research Institute.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/gioi-cong-nghe-my-mua-dien-hat-nhan-phuc-vu-ai-20240702002209142.htm