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Fueling Data Centers With 24/7 Clean Nuclear Energy.
To slash carbon emissions and shift away from fossil fuels, a growing number of corporations plan to transition to 24/7 carbon-free energy matching, formalized in a set of principles known as the 24/7 Carbon-free Energy Compact.
This UN-backed project is founded on five principles that underscore its commitment to achieving a sustainable and carbon-free energy landscape, focusing on the decarbonization of major sectors of the economy like buildings, transport, and industry. Embracing a low-carbon, technology-inclusive approach establishes nuclear as a key player in ensuring reliability, energy security, affordability, and economic growth.
By tracking their energy load temporally, the biggest carbon emitters—including data centers, entire countries, and other large-scale institutions—can purchase zero-carbon energy on an hourly basis to meet their demands.
The ability to track and match carbon-free supply with demand on an hourly basis is critical, particularly as hyperscalers and other data centers set new standards for decarbonization.
Amid efforts to decarbonize the data center industry, we explore the role of nuclear power in carbon-free energy matching. Supplied by small modular reactors (SMRs), nuclear is an always-on solution to meet the evolving energy requirements and climate goals of data centers, from small enterprise facilities to the largest hyperscalers.
Carbon-free energy matching, also called 24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE) or 24/7 carbon-free energy procurement, means that every kilowatt-hour (KWh) of electricity consumption—every day, everywhere, and at all hours—is met with or “procured” from carbon-free electricity sources.
Of the global information and communication technology (ICT) companies, Google has made one of the clearest associations between carbon-free energy matching and nuclear power. By 2030, the company aims to achieve 24/7 “carbon-free” electricity, defined as any form of electricity generation that doesn’t directly emit CO2. This list includes electricity from nuclear as well as renewables like solar, wind, and geothermal.
While many ICT companies have successfully achieved carbon neutrality and invested significantly in renewable energy, their data centers and other facilities cannot rely solely on the intermittent power of renewables. To address this challenge, data centers can integrate nuclear energy—a clean, reliable, and continuous baseload energy solution—as a source of electricity. The adoption of nuclear power not only meets their present energy requirements but also positions them to meet the escalating global demand for digital services in the future.
Several technology companies are working toward or have already achieved 100% renewable energy matching. Crucially, this objective is distinct from the loftier but necessary goal of 24/7 CFE. Whereas 24/7 CFE is defined by hourly energy purchases, 100% renewable energy matching traditionally occurs on an annual basis and does not equate to complete decarbonization.
For example, based on simulations by Google for the year 2025, a business that purchases energy from the grid in Ireland and matches its consumption with 100% renewable energy on an annual basis is only 85% carbon-free on an hourly basis. When energy demand exceeds availability, that business must procure energy from carbon-intensive sources to supplement the natural intermittency of wind, solar, and other renewables.
Therefore, even if tech companies match 100% of their annual data demand with renewable energy purchases or certificates, their data centers may still partially rely on fossil fuels when renewables are unavailable.
24/7 CFE is a response to the problem of intermittency and fossil fuel dependence, compelling data centers to drastically reduce their emissions and decarbonize the broader electric grid.
For data centers, 24/7 CFE is arguably the only solution to minimize their carbon footprints and phase out fossil fuel plants. Although the energy consumption of data centers has grown only moderately since 2010, these facilities contend with rapidly-expanding markets, data workloads, and demands for digital services.
Collectively, these forces mean that the long-term emissions trends of data centers and data transmission networks are “highly uncertain,” as described by the International Energy Association (IEA). To get on track with the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario, the IEA estimates that emissions from this sector must halve by 2030.
As of 2023, Microsoft leads the way in introducing both 24/7 CFE and nuclear power to the data center industry. The company announced plans to power one of its data centers in Boydton, Virginia with up to 35% nuclear power, under an agreement with Constellation: a U.S.-based producer of carbon-free energy and an hourly, carbon-free energy matching platform. Utilizing this software, Microsoft’s data center will procure power from both renewable facilities and a fleet of nuclear reactors, matching its energy demands with carbon-free power on an hourly basis.
This particular data center aligns with Microsoft’s broader plan to match 100% of its electricity consumption with zero-carbon energy purchases, 100% of the time, by 2030. By 2050, the company is committed to eliminating all of its carbon emissions.
Nuclear energy plays a key role in the goal setting of Microsoft and other major corporations, as well as utilizing power purchase agreements (PPAs): familiar and powerful contracts already used throughout the renewable energy industry.
In renewable energy markets, PPAs allow a company to buy energy from a pending project for a set price and period, often spanning terms of 10 to 20 years.
Using PPAs, Last Energy brings the energy-as-a-service model to the nuclear sector by taking responsibility for all deployment activities. Data center customers can purchase power from Last Energy via virtual PPAs (VPPAs) or private wire PPAs.
A VPPA is a financial contract between the special-purpose vehicle (SPV) of the energy project and the consumer. Compared to private wire PPAs, which establish a microgrid or direct wire connection between the SPV and the consumer, VPPAs do not require a physical connection.
Under either contract structure, Last Energy assumes the ownership and operational responsibilities for power generation assets. With familiarity of VPPAs and private PPAs, both data centers and project investors can leverage established contracting frameworks.
As more data centers publicly commit to decarbonization, PPAs can facilitate their efforts by streamlining the purchase of 24/7 clean power using a new, yet familiar contract: 24/7 clean PPA, described in detail in a 2022 McKinsey report.
In addition to addressing the annual supply-demand balance, 24/7 clean PPAs would:
Nuclear is a consistent, carbon-free solution to these data centers’ energy requirements and tracking goals. Whether they purchase nuclear power through a physical interconnection or a virtual PPA, data centers can track their 30-minute, five-minute, or even 32nd interval of carbon-free power.
Positing energy as a service rather than just a product, Last Energy handles the full lifecycle of the PWR-20—a 20 megawatt hour (MW) modular microreactor—from product design to operations and maintenance. To support this model, we rely on an established supply chain, proven nuclear technologies, and leveraging existing financial contracts used widely across the energy industry.
As major data center operators like Google, Microsoft, and Iron Mountain announce plans to source and match zero-carbon electricity on a 24/7 basis, they will require scalable, easily deployable technologies—like the PWR-20—within each grid where demand is located.
By pairing flexible and proven nuclear technology with the familiar PPA structure, Last Energy makes the shift to 24/7 CFE accessible and advantageous, both financially and environmentally, for data centers of all sizes and business models.
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