NextEra deals with Google, power co-ops allow for restart of Iowa nuclear plant

NextEra Energy plans to restart the shuttered Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa after reaching deals with Google and Central Iowa Power Cooperative, NextEra said Oct. 27.

Once the 615-MW Duane Arnold plant is again operational, Google will purchase output under a 25-year power purchase agreement to run its growing cloud and AI infrastructure in Iowa. Google announced in May that it would invest $7 billion in Iowa over the next two years.

Separately, NextEra agreed to buy out the ownership shares of Central Iowa Power Cooperative and Corn Belt Power Cooperative in the plant, giving NextEra full ownership. Central Iowa Power Cooperative has a 20% stake in Duane Arnold and Corn Belt Power Cooperative owns a 10% stake, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. NextEra's competitive power subsidiary NextEra Energy Resources owns the remaining 70%.

Central Iowa Power Cooperative will buy the output of Duane Arnold not being supplied to Google under the same terms as Google, NextEra said.

The Duane Arnold is expected to start producing electricity in the first quarter of 2029, pending regulatory approvals. It was shut in August 2020 after being damaged in a storm, months before its planned retirement.

"Restarting Duane Arnold marks an important milestone for NextEra Energy," NextEra Chairman and CEO John Ketchum said in a statement. "Our partnership with Google not only brings nuclear energy back to Iowa — it also accelerates the development of next-generation nuclear technology."

NextEra has been looking to restart the facility to meet growing electricity demand from large-load customers such as data centers. In August, NextEra said it planned to submit an environmental report to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in October to support the agency's review of the company's plan to restart the facility.

At that time, NextEra said its initial engineering assessment of the plant's reactor found it to be in "strong shape."

NextEra and Google also signed an agreement to explore the development of new nuclear generation elsewhere in the US.