Alphabet reported to be funding nuclear capacity increases at two Georgia plants supplying its data centers
Following·Day 356·first covered 6 Oct 2025·8 sources
BNEF Raises US Data Center Power Forecast 52%; Grid Supply Gap Persists
The gist
The gap between forecast demand and the realistic supply available from the grid by 2030 is substantial, with RAND's analysis putting net available new capacity at roughly 33 GW against forecasts ranging from 118 to 134 GW. Hyperscalers are responding by locking in long-term nuclear agreements, including deals involving plants that would otherwise have closed.
The full picture
BloombergNEF now forecasts 118 GW of installed US data center capacity by 2030 and 194 GW by 2035, representing upward revisions of 52% and 83% respectively from its December 2025 forecast. 451 Research, cited by S&P Global, projects US data center grid power demand will reach 61.8 GW in 2025 and 134.4 GW by 2030, roughly triple 2025 levels. On the supply side, a RAND analysis found that the US interconnection queue holds approximately 1,086 GW of planned generation, but after removing projects without reliable deliverability status, applying historical withdrawal rates, accounting for capacity accreditation factors, transmission and distribution losses, and planned retirements, net available capacity for data center power needs falls to approximately 33 GW. Against this backdrop, major hyperscalers have pursued nuclear power agreements as a direct power sourcing strategy.
How it developed
Data Center Dynamics documented hyperscaler nuclear agreements including AWS-Talen, Google-Kairos, and Equinix-Oklo deals
BloombergNEF raised US data center capacity forecast to 118 GW by 2030 and 194 GW by 2035, revisions of 52% and 83% from December 2025
Carnegie Endowment detailed Alphabet-Kairos-TVA molten-salt reactor deal, Meta-Constellation Clinton plant credit purchase, and Meta-Oklo 1.2 GW Ohio campus agreement
RAND published analysis finding net available grid capacity for data centers by 2030 is approximately 33 GW from a 1,086 GW interconnection queue
Meta and Microsoft each signed 20-year PPAs with Constellation Energy for nuclear power
Sources
Transformer News
about.bnef.com
carnegieendowment.org
datacenterdynamics.com
3 more sources
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