Nuclear Plant Restart Financing

NextEra Energy received a $1.9 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund the refurbishment of Iowa's Duane Arnold Energy Center, a nuclear plant that has been offline since 2020. The facility is expected to restart in 2029 with a capacity of 615 MW, following Google's earlier announcement that it would help bring the shuttered plant back online to meet regional data center power needs.

The loan marks the second major DOE financing for a nuclear restart, following a $1 billion loan to Constellation Energy last year to revive a reactor at Three Mile Island.

Previously shuttered nuclear plants are emerging as a preferred option for tech companies seeking reliable, low-carbon power that can come online faster than new generation capacity built from scratch.