NextEra Wins $1.9B DOE Loan to Restart Iowa Reactor for Google
TL;DR
- The Department of Energy has closed a $1.9 billion loan to NextEra Energy to restart the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa by 2029.
- The refurbished plant will generate 615 MW, with just 50 MW set aside for the local power cooperative and the remainder earmarked for Google.
- Google signed a 25-year power-purchase agreement with NextEra in October 2025 and is reportedly planning up to six data centers near the site.
The U.S. Department of Energy has closed a $1.9 billion loan to NextEra Energy to restart the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa, mothballed since 2020 when an intense rainstorm damaged the plant. Google is reportedly looking to build up to six data centers near the site and signed a 25-year power-purchase agreement with NextEra last October.
"Returning 615 megawatts of reliable baseload generation will drive down electricity costs, while supporting thousands of American jobs," said James Danly, Deputy Secretary of Energy.
Just 50 megawatts will be set aside for the local power cooperative. The rest is earmarked for Google's AI operations. Restart is scheduled for 2029.
It is DOE's second nuclear-restart loan tied to hyperscaler demand, following a $1 billion loan to Constellation to bring back a reactor at Three Mile Island. Microsoft's TMI unit is due back in 2028 at 835 MW, and Meta is buying the clean-energy attributes from the 1.1 GW Clinton Clean Energy Center. Data center electricity demand is expected to nearly triple by 2035, one line in a run of AI infrastructure deals we've tracked heavily this quarter. That's 456 stories in the last 90 days.
Originally reported by techcrunch.com
Read the original article →Original headline: NextEra's Duane Arnold Nuclear Restart Gets $1.9B DOE Loan to Anchor Google AI Data Centers