US grants NextEra $1.9 billion to restart Iowa nuclear plant

The US Department of Energy has provided NextEra Energy with a $1.9 billion loan to restore the Duane Arnold Energy Center nuclear power plant in Iowa. The plant is planned to restart in 2029. Last October, Google announced its intention to resume operations at the facility, which was shut down in 2020. As TechCrunch reports, NextEra mothballed the plant after a heavy downpour damaged it. At the time, the company decided not to carry out repairs because low natural gas prices made nuclear generation economically unattractive. Capacity after modernization During the restoration, NextEra is expected to increase Duane Arnold's capacity by 14 megawatts, to 615 megawatts. According to NextEra CEO John Ketchum, 50 megawatts are planned to be allocated to a local energy cooperative. In his assessment, that volume could cover 18% of Iowa's increase in electricity demand since 2021. More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram. US Deputy Energy Secretary James Danly said that restarting the plant would help reduce electricity costs, without explaining the mechanism of such an effect. Energy for data centers According to the publication, Google is considering building up to six data centers near Duane Arnold. Rising electricity demand is linked to the development of artificial intelligence and the electrification of the economy. By 2035, new data centers are expected to nearly triple the sector's electricity consumption. This is already the second major federal loan for restoring a shut-down nuclear reactor. Last year, the US Department of Energy provided $1 billion to Constellation Energy to restart the Three Mile Island reactor, which is expected to resume operations in 2028 with a capacity of 835 megawatts. Read us on Telegram and Sends Download our app