TerraPower, a next-generation nuclear power company, has secured $650 million in new funding. The investment round included participation from NVentures, the venture capital arm of computer chip maker NVIDIA, as well as current investors Bill Gates, who helped found the company, and HD Hyundai, a shipbuilding corporation. Despite challenges faced by clean energy technologies like wind, solar, and batteries under policies favoring fossil fuels, nuclear power has maintained bipartisan support.
The rapid growth of energy-intensive artificial intelligence has also increased the tech sector’s demand for new power sources. Mohamed “Sid” Siddeek, corporate vice president and head of NVentures, stated, “As AI continues to transform industries, nuclear energy is going to become a more vital energy source to help power these capabilities. TerraPower’s nuclear reactor technologies offer innovative, carbon-free solutions to meet global energy needs while minimizing environmental impact.”
TerraPower has previously raised over $1 billion from investors such as Gates, SK Inc., and SK Innovation, and has been awarded approximately $2 billion from federal and state entities.
Nvidia’s investment in TerraPower
The company has offices and research facilities in Bellevue and Everett, Washington, and is developing its first small modular nuclear reactor near a retiring coal plant in Wyoming. TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque said at a Bellevue Chamber event in March, “2030 is the date for making electricity [in Wyoming], and we’re on schedule for that.” By that time, the company aims to have around 10 to 12 other plants under construction, potentially making TerraPower the first company to deploy next-generation nuclear technology in America.
Nuclear power is attractive because it does not produce carbon emissions and can operate continuously. Tech giants like Amazon and Google are working to increase global nuclear power output by 2050. Amazon plans to build a $20 million data center alongside a reactor in Pennsylvania and has partnerships to help fund the construction of four reactors in central Washington.
Microsoft has a deal to restart a nuclear reactor at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island. NuScale, another company developing small modular reactors, is reportedly in discussions with several major data center operators interested in its nuclear power solutions.
