Meta Platforms Inc. has signed a 20-year deal to buy nuclear power from Constellation Energy Corp., the largest producer of carbon-free electricity in the U.S.

The companies announced the agreement today.

Constellation won a similar 20-year contract from Microsoft Corp. last September. Under that deal, the utility will reopen a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania that was shut down a few years ago for economic reasons. Once renovations are complete, the facility is expected to produce 835 megawatts of power for Microsoft data centers.

Constellation’s deal with Meta is larger in scope. The Facebook parent will purchase 1,121 megawatts of nuclear energy, which corresponds to the electricity use of 1 million average American homes. The electricity will be produced at the Clinton Clean Energy Center (pictured), a nuclear power plant in southern Illinois.

“Securing clean, reliable energy is necessary to continue advancing our AI ambitions,” said Urvi Parekh, Meta’s head of global energy.

Meta didn’t disclose how much the contract is worth. The Clinton Clean Energy Center was built in the 1980s at a cost of $4.25 billion, or more than $11 billion when adjusted for inflation. The contract with Meta will require Constellation to extend the facility’s operating license, which was issued in 1987 and is currently set to expire next year. 

The companies’ energy procurement agreement is expected to preserve more than 1,100 local jobs. As part of the deal, Constellation plans to boost the Clinton Clean Energy Center’s power output by 30 megawatts. The utility also intends to “explore further nuclear development at the site,” which hints that the facility’s power generation capacity could be further expanded down the line. It’s expected to start supplying power for Meta data centers in 2027.

The deal comes a few months after the Facebook parent detailed a separate investment in nuclear energy. As part of the latter initiative, Meta hopes to add between 1 gigawatt and 4 gigawatts of energy to the grid starting in the early 2030s. The company disclosed today that it has shortlisted a set of proposed nuclear power projects across multiple U.S. states.

Meta’s nuclear power purchases will help support the growing energy requirements of its data centers. Last December, the company disclosed plans to bring 1 gigawatt’s worth of compute capacity online in 2025. It expects to end the year with more than 1.3 million graphics processing units across its data center network.

Meta’s longer-term infrastructure roadmap includes a $10 billion data center campus in Louisiana. The site, which spans 2,250 acres, is expected to host nine buildings. It will consume 2 gigawatts of power at full capacity. 

Photo: Constellation Energy