Constellation Energy has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Microsoft to facilitate the launch of the 835MW Crane Clean Energy Centre (CCEC) following the restart of the Three Mile Island (TMI) Unit 1 nuclear reactor in the US.
Located in Pennsylvania on the Susquehanna River south of Harrisburg, the Three Mile Island nuclear station has two separate units.
Constellation Energy acquired Unit 1 reactor in 1999. Owing to economic reasons, the reactor was closed in 2019.
Prior to its closure, the facility generated 837MW of electricity, which was enough to power over 800,000 homes.
In its final year of operation, Unit 1 operated at 96.3% capacity. The facility will be renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center after the company’s former CEO Chris Crane.
The Three Mile Island Unit 2 nuclear reactor was shut down following an incident in 1979, involving partial meltdown. It is currently being decommissioned by its owner Energy Solutions.
As Unit 1 is an independent facility, it was not affected by the closure of Unit 2.
Constellation Energy plans to make investments to restore critical equipment, including the turbine, generator, and cooling systems, as part of the restart process.
Unit 1’s restart requires approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, along with necessary permits from state and local authorities.
The company is also seeking a licence renewal to extend the plant’s operations until at least 2054. The Crane Clean Energy Centre is expected to be operational in 2028.
Constellation Energy’s agreement with Microsoft is expected to restore carbon-free energy to the grid and generate 3,400 direct and indirect jobs. The move is also projected to contribute over $3bn in state and federal taxes.
Constellation Energy president and CEO Joe Dominguez said: “Powering industries critical to our nation’s global economic and technological competitiveness, including data centres, requires an abundance of energy that is carbon-free and reliable every hour of every day, and nuclear plants are the only energy sources that can consistently deliver on that promise.
“Before it was prematurely shuttered due to poor economics, this plant was among the safest and most reliable nuclear plants on the grid, and we look forward to bringing it back with a new name and a renewed mission to serve as an economic engine for Pennsylvania.”
Through the PPA, Microsoft’s goal is to match the energy consumption of its data centres in the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection (PJM) region with carbon-free energy.
The agreement is also anticipated to support the objective as the tech company continues efforts to decarbonise its operations.
Microsoft energy vice president Bobby Hollis said: “This agreement is a major milestone in Microsoft’s efforts to help decarbonise the grid in support of our commitment to become carbon negative.
“Microsoft continues to collaborate with energy providers to develop carbon-free energy sources to help meet the grids’ capacity and reliability needs.”
