Google’s power-hungry data centers crave nuclear energy

谷歌电力需求巨大的数据中心渴望核能

Google announced a new agreement to update six nuclear power plant sites across the US as the tech giant seeks to generate more electricity for its power-hungry data centers. 谷歌宣布了一项新协议，将对美国境内的六个核电站进行升级改造，这家科技巨头正寻求为其电力需求巨大的数据中心生产更多电力。

Google signed the 20-year deal with Constellation, the leading nuclear power plant operator in the US. The power purchase agreement is meant to guarantee the revenue needed to cover the cost of efficiency upgrades at existing nuclear plants and “represents more than $4.3 billion of new investment by Constellation,” according to the press release. 谷歌与美国领先的核电站运营商 Constellation 签署了这份为期 20 年的协议。根据新闻稿，这份购电协议旨在确保现有核电站进行效率升级所需的资金，并“代表了 Constellation 超过 43 亿美元的新投资”。

Over the next five years, the companies expect new equipment at each site to collectively lead to 890 megawatts of additional nuclear capacity. That’s roughly equivalent to the amount of electricity one large new nuclear reactor or three small modular reactors might generate, according to Google and Constellation. 在未来五年内，两家公司预计每个站点的设备更新将共同带来 890 兆瓦的额外核能发电能力。据谷歌和 Constellation 称，这大致相当于一座大型新核反应堆或三座小型模块化反应堆所能产生的电量。

They plan to modernize 11 reactors at six sites in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Each is connected to the PJM Interconnection grid, the largest power grid in the US, which spans 13 states and the District of Columbia — including the nation’s largest hub for data centers in Loudoun County, Virginia. 他们计划对位于伊利诺伊州、宾夕法尼亚州和新泽西州六个地点的 11 座反应堆进行现代化改造。这些地点均连接至美国最大的电网——PJM 互联电网，该电网覆盖 13 个州和哥伦比亚特区，其中包括全美最大的数据中心枢纽——弗吉尼亚州劳登县。

PJM has struggled lately to meet growing demand from AI data centers. An independent market monitor filed a complaint last year with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) saying that PJM was planning to allow huge data centers to connect to the grid that it could not reliably serve, which could lead to blackouts. PJM 近期难以满足人工智能数据中心日益增长的需求。去年，一家独立市场监测机构向联邦能源监管委员会 (FERC) 提出投诉，称 PJM 计划允许大型数据中心接入其无法可靠供电的电网，这可能会导致停电。

In January, the Trump administration and governors from all of the states where PJM operates issued a joint statement calling on PJM to hold an “emergency” power auction to support the buildout of new power plants through long-term contracts. PJM postponed its auction last week following a directive from FERC to revise its proposal in order to ensure stronger protections to prevent data centers from raising electricity bills for other customers. Electricity rates have skyrocketed in states connected to PJM, including New Jersey, where prices have climbed 54 percent over five years. 今年 1 月，特朗普政府和 PJM 运营所在各州的州长发表联合声明，呼吁 PJM 举行“紧急”电力拍卖，通过长期合同支持新电厂的建设。上周，在 FERC 指示其修改提案以确保更强有力的保护措施、防止数据中心推高其他客户电费后，PJM 推迟了拍卖。连接 PJM 的各州电价已大幅飙升，包括新泽西州，该州电价在五年内上涨了 54%。

Along with the nuclear power deal, Google also inked a separate, much larger 15-year energy supply agreement with Constellation meant to guarantee continued revenue for other existing power plants Constellation operates within PJM, regardless of fuel type. Nuclear energy made up 70 percent of Constellation’s total generating capacity last year, and another 8 percent came from renewables. Gas and oil made up the remaining 22 percent, according to the company’s latest sustainability report. Gas also accounts for the largest chunk of PJM’s fuel mix. At 2,700MW, the second deal is much larger than the nuclear power purchase agreement. 除了核能协议外，谷歌还与 Constellation 签署了一份规模大得多的、为期 15 年的独立能源供应协议，旨在确保 Constellation 在 PJM 区域内运营的其他现有电厂（无论燃料类型如何）获得持续收入。根据该公司最新的可持续发展报告，去年核能占 Constellation 总发电能力的 70%，另有 8% 来自可再生能源，其余 22% 为天然气和石油。天然气也是 PJM 燃料结构中占比最大的部分。这份规模达 2,700 兆瓦的第二份协议，远大于之前的核能购电协议。

Data centers are driving a surge in new gas infrastructure projects in the US, moving many tech companies further from their sustainability goals. Google’s carbon emissions rose by 18 percent last year along with a jump in electricity demand of 37 percent, according to the company’s latest sustainability report. 数据中心正在推动美国新天然气基础设施项目的激增，这使得许多科技公司距离其可持续发展目标越来越远。根据谷歌最新的可持续发展报告，去年该公司的碳排放量增长了 18%，电力需求则激增了 37%。