Constellation Energy continues its pursuit of uprating several of its operating reactors as the company signs its latest power purchase agreement with Google Tuesday.
Constellation and Google agreed to a 20-year “clean energy collaboration” to add 890 megawatts of nuclear energy onto the PJM Interconnection grid, according to the press release. The agreement includes investments in new equipment and technology across six of Constellation’s nuclear power plants in Illinois, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Constellation did not list off the specific reactors that would receive the uprates in the release. However, 11 reactors across six nuclear plants will have their output capacities increased, the company said.
“The agreement helps sustain roughly 4,400 existing jobs, creates approximately 7,200 new construction jobs during the building period and represents more than $4.3 billion of new investment by Constellation,” the company said in its release.
PJM Interconnection is a regional transmission organization that operates across parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia. Illinois, New Jersey and Pennsylvania’s grids are connected to the PJM grid.
In updating the equipment and systems at the plants, Constellation said uprates offer increased power output while sidestepping multi-year timelines or interconnection bottlenecks. The collective 890-megawatt uprate across the 11 reactors equals the deployment of several small modular reactors or a new large reactor, the company said.
This deal continues Constellation’s efforts to preserve its current operating fleet. Constellation currently owns and operates the largest fleet of nuclear reactors in the United States with 21 units across 12 sites.
“We’re committed to meeting our growth responsibly by actively investing in clean, reliable power that brings new capacity to our nation’s grids,” Amanda Peterson Corio, global head of energy and power at Google, said in the release. “Our agreement with Constellation to fund nuclear reactor uprates will strengthen the PJM grid, which serves 67 million people, all while protecting energy affordability and supporting local union jobs.”