AWS acquires nuclear-powered datacenter campus

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has acquired the 960 MW Cumulus campus located at a nuclear power station in Pennsylvania (United States) owned by Talen Energy Corporation, a power generation and infrastructure company in North America that operates around 12.4 GW in the United States. The transaction with AWS was detailed on Talen’s website, citing the payment of $650 million for the purchase of all of Cumulus’ physical and intangible assets.

Cumulus datacenters are connected directly to Talen’s adjacent 2.5 GW Susquehanna nuclear power plants, without the intermediation of electricity transmission and distribution utilities, providing competitive advantages. Under the terms of the agreement, Talen will supply carbon-free energy to the campus from Susquehanna through contracts with fixed energy supply prices. Each increment in the energy capacity contract will have a fixed price for an initial term of 10 years, after which it will be re-evaluated. In a separate contract, Talen will receive additional revenue from AWS related to the sale of carbon-free energy directed to the grid.

When it opened in January 2023, the Cumulus campus was given the mission of helping to solve the energy ‘trilemma’ that encompasses the growing demand for reliable, zero-carbon and low-cost energy. According to Talen, the local power generation model with a direct connection between the power plants and the datacenters makes it possible to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) with the most attractive energy price in the United States. In addition, Talen states that the size and design of the Cumulus campus offers expansion capacity and flexibility, time-to-market advantages, along with strong ESG benefits.

Talen Energy filed for bankruptcy in 2022 and, after undergoing restructuring and recapitalisation processes, successfully completed its recovery plan in 2023.

Competitors are also watching

Microsoft, one of AWS’s main competitors, is also eyeing nuclear power as an energy source for datacenters. In July last year, it announced that one of its datacenters in Virginia (USA) would aim to significantly reduce carbon emissions by using nuclear energy, along with wind and solar, based on an agreement with Constellation Energy. The facilities would use up to 35 per cent nuclear energy. Microsoft claims that this agreement would bring it very close to the goal of operating the datacenter with 100% carbon-free energy, 24 hours a day.

More recently, in September 2023, Microsoft gave further evidence that it is investing in this area by advertising a job vacancy for a qualified nuclear technology programme manager. The advert said that the nuclear specialist would be responsible for maintaining a roadmap for the integration of nuclear technologies and should have experience in the energy sector and in-depth knowledge of technology and regulatory issues.

Other AWS initiatives

AWS is also working with the academic world to expand the adoption of alternative energy sources, such as nuclear. It recently signed a partnership with George Mason University in Virginia (USA) to open a renewable energy laboratory within Fuse, the university’s R&D centre. It is also launching complementary curricula in sustainable engineering for datacenters, which will focus on renewable energy generation, storage and distribution, training and practical experience.

In this new centre, equipment and software tools funded by AWS will give students the chance to explore, analyse and simulate data on renewable energy sources, as well as design and operate microgrid complexes. The lab will replicate real-world equipment such as power grids, wind farms and other renewable energy sources.

Going further, AWS has also sought to reduce the carbon embodied in its infrastructures in order to achieve the goal of zero emissions (on a net basis) by 2040. AWS is working throughout the supply chain to build datacenters using low-carbon concrete and steel as far as possible. There are already 43 datacenters around the world built in this way, a total in 2023 that represents more than double that reported in 2022, according to AWS data. According to the company, more than 22,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) were avoided by building 27 datacenters using low-carbon steel and concrete.