Constellation Energy Corporation’s Three Mile Island nuclear plant is expected to restart a year sooner than originally planned.
The Three Mile Island Unit 1 reactor may restart in 2027, a year earlier than the initial 2028 timeline Constellation provided in September when it announced a power purchase agreement with Microsoft that the energy company said at the time would “pave the way” for it coming back online.
The reactor, a separate facility from the Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor that suffered a partial meltdown in the late 1970s, has not operated since 2019, when it was taken offline for economic reasons. It is now being called the Crane Clean Energy Center.
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The power purchase agreement with Microsoft that is facilitating the Three Mile Island restart spans 20 years. The electricity that Microsoft is set to buy from the nuclear plant will help meet the power demands of its data centers, Constellation has said.
Microsoft and other tech companies have been looking to nuclear energy – from traditional reactors or future smaller advanced reactors – for electricity as they continue to ramp up their artificial intelligence efforts.
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Both AI and the data centers they rely on require large amounts of electricity. The International Energy Administration forecasted earlier this year that U.S. electricity consumption from AI and data centers will soar 130% from 2024 to 2030.
Constellation, which bought TMI Unit 1 in 1999, has said the Crane Clean Energy Center will bring roughly 835 megawatts of electricity to the grid once back online.
The reactor’s restart is projected to lead to 3,400 direct and indirect jobs and give Pennsylvania’s gross domestic product a $16 billion boost, the energy company has said, citing an independent economic impact study.
FOX Business’ Madison Alworth reported Wednesday that the reason for the quicker timeline at Crane Clean Energy Center was that Constellation was “able to fast-track the approval to connect the power that will be created here to the electrical grid.”
Earlier this month, Constellation announced a separate agreement with Meta Platforms through which the tech giant will buy nuclear power from its Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois. That power purchase agreement will start in 2027.
It will keep the Clinton nuclear reactor from shutting down after its Zero Emission Credit ends in mid-2027 and allow it to continue providing electricity on the local grid, Constellation said at the time.
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The nuclear power plant will add 30 megawatts of increased output from nuclear uprates through the deal with Meta, according to the company.
The energy company also said it was looking into ways to extend Clinton Energy Center’s existing early site permit or “seek a new construction permit” from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to develop an advanced nuclear reactor or small modular nuclear reactor at the facility now that the plant will be open for 20 more years.
Approximately 18% of America’s power in 2024 came from nuclear energy, according to the Department of Energy.
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