Amazon has announced that it has signed three contracts to secure electrical utilities for datacenters through the development of small modular reactors.

October 17, 2024, 7:20 AM GMT+9

On the 16th, Amazon.com (AMZN.O) announced that it has signed three contracts to secure electrical power for data centers through the development of next-generation modular reactors (SMRs). This is in response to the sharp increase in electrical demand for data centers due to the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) usage.
Amazon is providing funding for the commercialization survey of the SMR project planned by X Energy in Washington state. The project is led by the state's public utility coalition, expanding power generation capacity to 960 megawatts (MW) using SMR, with Amazon and the public utility coalition agreeing to utilize this expanded capacity.
Matt Garman, CEO of the AWS cloud division, stated, 'Our agreement will promote the development of new nuclear technology that will generate energy over the next few decades.'

Amazon plans to become a major investor in the $500 million funding for X Energy's SMR development. Both companies aim to supply an additional 5 gigawatts (GW) of power through SMR in the USA by 2039, making it the largest commercial project to date.

Amazon has also agreed to advance a project to construct an SMR facility near an existing power plant in Virginia in collaboration with Dominion Resources Inc.