The Department of Energy has made a $46.7 million loan disbursement to Holtec International to restart the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan.
The 800-MW plant will be the first ever commercial reactor in the country to restart after ceasing operations.
Back in September, the Biden administration guaranteed up to $1.52 billion in loans for the project. Holtec plans to restart operations this October, after being shut down in May 2022 by the previous owner Entergy due to finances.
Nuclear is one solution for long term reliable baseload power in the face of rising energy demand. According to a recent report from Deloitte, new nuclear power could fill about 10% of the projected increase in data center electricity demand over the next decade.
In that timeframe, the United States is projected to see somewhere between 35 GW to 65 GW of new nuclear capacity through power uprates at existing plants, bringing reactors out of retirement, and completely new reactor development. Data centers are expected to consume about 30% of this new capacity.
In the meantime, consumers should be relying on dispatchable gas until nuclear facilities can come online.
