Virginia Data Center Development To Run On Nuclear Power, Hydrogen

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

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Green Energy Partners (GEP) has tapped IP3 International to help realize its dream of a massive datacenter campus in Virginia powered entirely by small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) and hydrogen gas generators.

The joint venture between the two companies will see the formation of a 641-acre industrial park located in Surry County, Virginia, called the Surry Green Energy Center (SGEC). Situated in close proximity to the Surry Power Station's two 800MW reactors, GEP and IP3 hope to attract datacenter operators to set up shop during the first phase of the project.

"We're going to create a datacenter park first, and that datacenter park will get power from the local utility, and we will build lots, and we will sell those lots to datacenter providers," IP3 CEO Michael Hewitt, whose company specializes in supporting the development of nuclear power plants in the US and Europe, told The Register. "We see that as a very lucrative investment, particularly when you look at the going rate for a datacenter lot in, say, Northern Virginia."

If successful, these datacenters will serve as the customer base for private investment in the development of SMRs on the site during the second phase of the project.

[...] The idea of using SMRs to power datacenters is by no means a new concept. We spoke with analysts at Omdia last year about the potential for these miniaturized nuclear reactors to alleviate pressure on local utilities, particularly in power-challenged regions, like Virginia.

[...] As for when this might happen, Hewitt conservatively hopes to see the site running on SMRs within a decade.

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