Meta signs deals with three nuclear companies for more than 6 gigawatts of power

Meta today announced three deals to power its data centers with nuclear power: one from a startup, one from a smaller energy company, and one from a larger company that already operates several nuclear reactors in the United States.

Oklo and TerraPower, two companies developing small modular reactors (SMR), have signed agreements with Meta to build multiple reactors, while Vistra is selling capacity from its existing power plants.

Nuclear power has become the power source of choice for technology companies as their AI ambitions grow, providing stable electricity 24/7. Startups and established players have benefited from the race for data center power, but in different ways.

Existing reactors tend to be the cheapest form of baseload capacity, but there are only a few reactors available, which has pushed Meta and its peers toward SMR startups. Companies like Oklo and TerraPower are betting that by building a large number of smaller reactors, they will be able to reduce the cost through mass manufacturing. It is a reasonable hypothesis, although it has not yet been tested. A Meta deal could give SMR startups a chance to prove that.

These deals are the result of a request for proposals issued by Meta in December 2024, in which Meta sought partners that could add between 1 and 4 gigawatts of generating capacity by the early 2030s. Much of the new power will flow through the PJM grid, a grid that covers 13 states in the mid-Atlantic and Midwest and has become saturated with data centers.

The 20-year agreement with Vistra will have the most immediate impact on Meta’s energy needs. The technology company will buy a total of 2.1 gigawatts from two existing nuclear power plants, Perry and Davis-Bessey in Ohio.

As part of the deal, Vistra will also add capacity to these power plants and to its Beaver Valley power plant in Pennsylvania. Together, the upgrades will generate an additional 433 megawatts and are scheduled to be operational in the early 2030s.

Meta is also purchasing 1.2 gigawatts from young provider Oklo. Under its deal with Meta, Oklo hopes to start supplying power to the grid as early as 2030. SMR went public via a SPAC in 2023, and while Oklo landed a big deal with data center operator Switch, it has struggled to get its reactor design approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

If Oklo can meet its schedule, the new reactors will be built in Pike County, Ohio. Each of the startup’s Aurora Powerhouse reactors produces 75 megawatts of electricity, and it would need to build more than a dozen reactors to meet meta demand.

TerraPower is a startup co-founded by Bill Gates that aims to start sending electricity to Meta as early as 2032. It has designed a reactor that uses molten sodium to transfer energy from the reactor to the generator. When demand is low, superheated salt can be stored in an insulated container until more power is needed. The reactor can generate 345 megawatts of electricity, while the storage system can provide an additional 100 to 500 megawatts for more than five hours.

The company has made it through the NRC process more smoothly and is working with GE Hitachi to build its first power plant in Wyoming. Meta’s first two reactors will provide 690 megawatts, and Meta said it has the rights to purchase six more units, totaling 2.8 gigawatts of nuclear capacity and 1.2 gigawatts of storage.

Meta did not disclose the financial terms of the deals.

Power purchases from Vistra will almost certainly be the cheapest, as electricity generated by nuclear reactors already in operation is among the cheapest on the grid.

Costs for SMEs remain to be determined. Many startups have strict cost targets: TerraPower estimated it could get the cost down to $50 to $60 per megawatt-hour, while Oklo said it was aiming for $80 to $130 per megawatt-hour. These figures relate to later power plants, and the first examples are likely to cost more.