Google, Kairos Power, TVA announce collaboration

The power purchase agreement between the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Kairos Power will deliver up to 50 MW of "reliable, 24/7 energy" to the TVA grid that powers Google data centres in Tennessee and Alabama, the companies said. This is the first such agreement signed by a US utility to buy electricity from an advanced, Gen IV reactor, as well as being the first deployment under the 2024 deal between Kairos Power and Google to enable 500 MW of new, advanced nuclear capacity to come online by 2035 in support of Google’s load growth.

Hermes 2 will be a power-producing demonstration reactor built alongside the Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor which is currently under construction at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued construction permits for Hermes 2, two 35 MWt molten salt-cooled reactors with a shared power generation system, in November 2024.

To accelerate the delivery of clean energy to Google, Kairos Power said it now intends to increase Hermes 2's output from 28 MWe to 50 MWe "generated by a single reactor," with operations scheduled to begin in 2030.

The agreement will see Google receive the clean energy attributes from the plant through the TVA system to further decarbonise its data centre operations in Montgomery County, Tennessee, and Jackson County, Alabama, and support future growth in the region. The collaboration demonstrates TVA's commitment to integrating innovative, firm energy sources to proactively support the development of new clean generation within its service territory, the companies said.

"To power the future, we need to grow the availability of smart, firm energy sources," said Google’s Global Head of Data Center Energy Amanda Peterson Corio. "This collaboration with TVA, Kairos Power, and the Oak Ridge community will accelerate the deployment of innovative nuclear technologies and help support the needs of our growing digital economy while also bringing firm carbon-free energy to the electricity system. Lessons from the development and operation of the Hermes 2 plant will help drive down the cost of future reactors, improving the economics of clean firm power generation in the TVA region and beyond."

Kairos Power CEO and co-founder Mike Laufer said the collaboration is an "important enabler" to making advanced nuclear energy commercially competitive. "The re-envisioned Hermes 2 gets us closer to the commercial fleet sooner and could only be made possible by close collaboration with TVA and Google, and a supportive local community," he said.

"Energy security is national security, and electricity is the strategic commodity that is the building block for AI and our nation’s economic prosperity," TVA President and CEO Don Moul said, adding that the first-of-a-kind agreement "is the start of an innovative way of doing business. By developing a technology, a supply chain, and a delivery model that can build an industry to unleash American energy, we can attract and support companies like Google and help America win the AI race."

"The deployment of advanced nuclear reactors is essential to US AI dominance and energy leadership," US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. "The Department of Energy has assisted Kairos Power with overcoming technical, operational, and regulatory challenges as a participant in the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, and DOE will continue to help accelerate the next American nuclear renaissance."