Google reaches a 200-megawatt fusion power purchase agreement after carbon emissions surge 50%

Passionategeekz On June 30, Google announced that it would purchase electricity from an upcoming nuclear fusion power plant. Nuclear fusion is regarded as the “holy grail” of clean energy and is a goal that scientists have pursued for more than half a century. Although the industry achieved important milestones a few years ago, the technology still needs to be proven whether it is technically feasible or commercially feasible. However, the collaboration announced by Google today shows that the company is confident in the possibility of powering its data centers using nuclear fusion technology.

The news follows Google’s latest sustainability report. The report shows that despite Google’s commitment to clean energy, its greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Even under ideal circumstances, fusion reactors are not ready to be put into operation in time to help Google achieve its goal of significantly reducing carbon emissions by 2030.

“In our opinion, this is an advanced technology that changes the world. Of course, we still have to overcome some major physical and engineering challenges to make it commercially viable and scale. But we want to invest now to achieve this future goal.”

Specifically, Google has reached an agreement with Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) to purchase 200 megawatts of “carbon-free future power.” CFS is a private company that is building the nuclear fusion power plant, and Google is one of its investors. Such power purchase agreements are more common among other sources of electricity and are a way to raise funds for new projects. The difference between nuclear fusion is that its time planning is much more uncertain.

Nuclear fusion researchers are trying to replicate the way stars produce light and heat. In the sun, hydrogen nuclei fusion creates helium and releases huge energy. If this process can be achieved in a controlled manner on Earth, humans will unlock a potential, infinite, carbon-free energy source.

However, this process requires extreme high temperatures – over 100 million degrees Celsius. Due to the extremely high requirements for high temperatures and pressures, scientists did not achieve the net energy gain of nuclear fusion reactions for the first time until 2022, and only Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory can do this at present. Current nuclear power plants generate electricity through nuclear fission, that is, release energy by splitting the nucleus, a process that produces radioactive waste.

CFS said its technology has grown fast enough to be expected to connect the first nuclear fusion power plant to Virginia’s power grid in the early 1930s. Virginia is also home to the “data center corridor” where many tech companies build or expand facilities to develop new AI tools. However, other energy experts believe that fusion technology may take decades to commercialize. Currently, CFS is building its pilot plant in Massachusetts.

Google and CFS are not the only companies that have hope for nuclear fusion technology. In 2023, Microsoft reached an agreement with Helion Energy to purchase electricity from the nuclear fusion generator it is developing, which is expected to be put into operation in 2028. According to the Washington Post last week, in recent years, about $8 billion (Passionategeekz Note: the current exchange rate is approximately RMB 57.328 billion) of funds flowed into nuclear fusion startups.

Google announced its first investment in CFS in 2021 to support its R&D efforts. Now, Google has made another second round of capital investment, although both parties have not disclosed the specific amount. Google has been an investor in another nuclear fusion company, TAE Technologies, since 2015, but the deal with CFS is the first nuclear fusion power purchase agreement that Google has reached.

In 2021, Google promised to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by the end of this decade compared with 2019. However, its latest sustainability report shows that due to the vigorous development of artificial intelligence,Google’s carbon emissions have increased by more than 50% since 2019. The 200 MW power purchase agreement with CFS accounts for only a small part of Google’s carbon-free energy procurement. Google said it has signed more than 170 agreements since 2010 to purchase 22,000 megawatts of clean energy, mostly wind and solar projects, which are seen as more viable short-term solutions.

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