Meta signs deals with three nuclear companies for 6-plus GW of power

Meta today announced three deals to power its data centers with nuclear energy: one from a startup, one from a smaller energy company and one from a larger company that already operates several nuclear reactors in the US.

Okay And TerraPowerTwo companies developing small modular reactors (SMR) each signed agreements with Meta to build multiple reactors, while Vistra sells capacity from its existing power plants.

Nuclear power has become a favorite energy source for tech companies as their AI ambitions have grown to provide stable 24/7 electricity. Startups and existing reactors have benefited from the race for data center power, albeit in different ways.

Existing reactors are typically the cheapest form of baseload capacity, but there are only a limited number of them available, which has pushed Meta and his colleagues toward SMR startups. Companies like Oklo and TerraPower are betting that by building a large number of smaller reactors they can reduce costs through mass production. It is a plausible hypothesis, but one that remains to be tested. Meta’s deal could give SMR startups a chance to prove it.

The deals are the result of a request for proposals that Meta issued in December 2024, in which Meta sought partners who could add between 1 and 4 gigawatts of generation capacity by the early 2030s. Much of the new energy will flow through the PJM interconnection, a network that covers thirteen Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states and has become saturated with data centers.

The twenty-year agreement with Vistra will have the most direct impact on Meta’s energy needs. The technology company will buy a total of 2.1 gigawatts from two existing nuclear power plants, Perry and Davis-Besse in Ohio.

As part of the deal, Vistra will also add capacity to these power plants and to the Beaver Valley power plant in Pennsylvania. Together, the upgrades will generate an additional 433 MW and are expected to come online in early 2030.

Meta also buys 1.2 gigawatts from the young provider Oklo. Thanks to the deal with Meta, Oklo hopes to start supplying power to the electricity grid as early as 2030. The SMR company went public via SPAC in 2023, and while Oklo has struck a major deal with data center operator Switch, it has struggled to get its reactor design approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

If Oklo can meet its timeline, the new reactors would be built in Pike County, Ohio. The startup’s Aurora Powerhouse reactors produce 75 megawatts of electricity each, and more than a dozen will need to be built to meet Meta’s order.

TerraPower is a startup co-founded by Bill Gates and aims to send electricity to Meta as early as 2032. The company has designed a reactor that uses molten sodium to transfer energy from the reactor to the generator. When demand is low, the superheated salt can be stored in an insulated vessel until more power is needed. The reactor can generate 345 megawatts of electricity, while the storage system can supply another 100 to 500 megawatts for more than five hours.

The company has smoothed through the NRC process and is working with GE Hitachi to build its first power plant in Wyoming. The first two reactors for Meta would provide 690 megawatts, and Meta said it has rights to buy another six units for a total of 2.8 gigawatts of nuclear capacity and 1.2 gigawatts of storage.

Meta did not disclose the financial terms of the deals.

Power purchases from Vistra will certainly be the cheapest; electricity from already operating nuclear reactors is among the cheapest on the electricity grid.

The costs for SMRs have yet to be worked out. Several startups have aggressive cost targets: TerraPower estimates it can reduce this $50 to $60 per megawatt hourwhile Oklo has said it is aiming to do so $80 to $130 per megawatt hour. These figures apply to later power plants; the first examples will probably cost more.