NextEra sees renewables demand tripling as data center power needs ramp up
NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) - NextEra Energy expects demand for new renewables power to triple over the next seven years to meet quickly rising electricity demand from technology and data center customers, the company said on Wednesday.
NextEra, which is based in Florida, was also cautiously considering a restart of its Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa.
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Executives with NextEra, which has the world's largest renewable energy business, said rising U.S. power consumption would provide opportunities and demand if they company proceeds with resurrecting its nuclear plant, which was shut in 2020.
"It is something that we are looking at, but there's a lot of thought that has to go into it," said NextEra CEO John Ketchum, who added that the company would need to fine a risk-free approach to any restart.
U.S. power companies, including Constellation and others with nuclear power, are particularly expected to benefit from the pledges by big tech firms to invest in new climate-friendly energy generation to cater to surging AI power needs.
NextEra sees its total renewables portfolio with technology and data center customers, including assets in operation and in backlog, standing at seven gigawatts (GW).
Its renewables segment saw a rise of 3 GW worth of renewables and storage projects in the quarter, with one of the project being Google's 860 megawatt (MW) demand for its data center power.
"Some of this is going to be a little bit longer to materialize on the gross side" said Rebecca Kujawa, chief executive of NextEra Energy Resources, adding that some projects could start up between 2026 and 2028.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney and Seher Dareen; editing by David Evans)