The rise of AI is not only measured by its software innovations: it also translates and above all by extraordinary electricity consumption. Building a model and operating it daily in online services requires data centers capable of turning day and night. As a result, as a result of a demand for energy which is skyrocketing, to the point of switching on an electrical network which must already meet the needs of individuals and businesses.
When AI explodes electricity consumption
Faced with this energy wall, current infrastructure is struggling to follow. Wind power and solar make a precious contribution, but their production depends on the weather conditions. Traditional nuclear power plants require heavy investments and very long deadlines. This is why new approaches, more flexible, emerge: compact and modular nuclear reactors.
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It is in this way that Google engages with an agreement signed in the United States. The group will benefit from the electricity produced by Hermes 2, a 50 megawatts reactor developed by Kairos Power, in collaboration with Tennessee Valley Authority (VAT). Installed in Oak Ridge, in Tennessee, the site must enter service in 2030. Part of its energy will be used directly by Google data centers located in the region, especially in Tennessee and Alabama.
This agreement is a first: an American company has never yet bought electricity from a fourth generation nuclear reactor. And this is only a step. Google and Kairos Power are ultimately a 500 megawatts of additional nuclear capacity in ten years. What secure a stable, local and low carbon supply for cloud and AI infrastructure from the group.
The Trump administration has launched several measures to simplify license procedures, multiply pilot projects and support modular reactors. The stated objective has ambition: it is indeed to triple or quadrup the American nuclear capacity by 2050. These political signals have relaunched the interest of investors and allowed startups to position themselves. The agreement between Google, VAT and Kairos Power is therefore the first of its kind and probably not the last.
For Google, this partnership goes beyond the simple question of supply. It is a question of ensuring a permanently available and available energy, an essential condition for supporting the development of artificial intelligence. Hermes 2 could serve as a model for other agreements between digital giants and energy actors.
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