Author: Li Xiaoyin.

The weather is good today The weather is good today.

To meet the increasing electricity demand for AI technology, Meta has also joined the ranks of embracing nuclear energy.

Local time on Tuesday, Meta released a Request for Proposal (RFP), indicating plans to add 1-4 gigawatts (1 gigawatt = 1 billion watts) of nuclear power generation capacity in the early 2030s, and is seeking cooperation with relevant nuclear developers to support the electricity grid growth needs for datacenters and their surrounding communities.

Meta stated:

“We believe that nuclear energy will play a key role in transitioning to a cleaner, more reliable, and more diverse grid.”

The announcement shows that Meta is looking for 'stakeholders who are involved from the beginning to the end of the project', meaning the company is seeking to establish partnerships with entities that can track the entire lifecycle of nuclear projects, including site selection and licensing to design, construction, and operation.

Urvi Parekh, the global energy lead of Meta, stated:

"We hope that partners can be involved throughout. Meta is prepared to provide long-term support and collaboration to optimize project development."

This move signifies that, following microsoft, Google, and other tech giants, Meta is also transitioning towards nuclear power generation.

Previously, Wall Street Journal mentioned that in September of this year, the chairman of Oracle announced plans to design data centers powered by nuclear reactors, microsoft also reached an agreement in the same month to source nuclear energy for data center energy consumption by restarting decommissioned nuclear power plants, while Google stated in October that it aims to research the use of nuclear energy as a green energy source to power its data centers.

Slightly different from other tech giants, Meta is open to various reactor sizes, technologies, and locations, with reports suggesting that this signifies the company is 'casting a wider net'.

Urvi Parekh stated that Meta adopts a 'geographically neutral' position, as the fastest deployable reactor locations may not align with specific data center locations.

Report analysis believes that this flexibility allows Meta to prioritize regions where nuclear projects can be most effectively developed.

In addition, Parekh also stated that aside from the acquisition cost at the start of the project, Meta is willing to share the costs in the early stages of development.

"Compared to our continuous investments in renewable energy projects such as solar and wind energy, nuclear energy projects have a higher capital intensity, longer development cycles, face more regulatory requirements, and are expected to have a longer operational lifespan."

"These differences mean that we need to get involved early in the development lifecycle of nuclear energy projects, and consider their operational needs when designing contracts."