Giant Nuclear-Powered Data Center Campus Planned In Connecticut
A massive, nuclear-powered data center campus may be coming in Connecticut as the industry increasingly looks toward nuclear power to reduce its carbon footprint.
Developer NE Edge and utility Dominion Energy are planning a 1.5M SF data center campus adjacent to Dominion’s nuclear power plant in Waterford, the Connecticut Examiner reports.
The proposed project would consist of two data centers drawing power directly from the Millstone Nuclear Power Station, which has operated on the site since the early 1970s.
“Dominion Energy is exploring this opportunity with NE Edge to help respond to a critical data infrastructure need in our state,” said Millstone Site Vice President Michael O’Connor, according to the Examiner. “The data center’s need to find a suitable site and the availability of space on Millstone Power Station property make this a potentially beneficial partnership for Dominion Energy.”
Officials in Waterford are considering whether to approve an agreement with NE Edge that would see the developer pay $231M to the town over 30 years in lieu of property tax on the data center campus. Connecticut lawmakers enacted legislation in 2021 that exempts data centers from local property taxes if they can agree to a fee with a local municipality instead. A decision on whether the project can proceed is expected in the coming weeks.
According to documents filed with the town, the campus would include a pair of two-story data centers. The larger of the two would have 568K SF of data center space on each floor — massive even by the standard of hyperscale data centers. The second building would have 214K SF of server space per level. No power usage figures were available, although the Millstone power plant produces around 2 gigawatts — enough energy to power 2 million homes.
The data center industry is increasingly turning its attention to nuclear energy as pressure mounts to reduce the carbon footprint of its significant energy usage. In Pennsylvania, Talen Energy subsidiary Cumulus Energy just completed construction of a 48-megawatt data center connected to Talen’s Susquehanna nuclear plant in Berwick, Pennsylvania — the first phase of a larger campus similar to what is proposed in Waterford.
Other data center developers are turning their attention to smaller modular nuclear reactors. These smaller nuclear plants, closer to what powers an aircraft carrier than to the Millstone generating station, are faster and cheaper to build than traditional nuclear power and were approved for commercial use by U.S. regulators last month.
