NextEra Energy partners with Google to restart Iowa nuclear plant

(Reuters) -U.S. utility NextEra Energy and Alphabet's Google have singed a power supply deal, which would help restart the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa. After years of stagnation, the nuclear industry is witnessing a renaissance, driven by a huge surge in power demand as Big Tech looks for clean energy sources to power their data centers. Shares of NextEra Energy rose over 1% to $87.24 after the bell. The over 600-megawatt Duane Arnold Energy Center was shut in 2020 after operating for 45 years. No fully shut U.S. nuclear reactor has been brought back to life, but Duane Arnold would be among three plants in the country in the process of attempted restarts. Duane Arnold Energy Center, located in Palo, Iowa, is the only nuclear power plant in the state and is expected to reopen by first quarter of 2029, NextEra said. Under the 25-year agreement, the tech giant will purchase power from the 615-MW plant for its growing cloud and AI infrastructure in the state, while also driving significant economic investment to the Midwest region. One of the plant's minority owners, Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO), will purchase the remaining portion of the plant's output on the same terms as Google, NextEra said. The utility added that it had also signed agreements to acquire CIPCO and Corn Belt Power Cooperative's combined 30% interest in the Duane Arnold plant, bringing NextEra's ownership to 100%. (Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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