NextEra Secures $1.9bn DOE Loan to Restart Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant for Google Data Center Power

NextEra Energy has secured a $1.9 billion loan from the US Department of Energy's Office of Energy Dominance Financing to support the restart of the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant in Linn County, Iowa, a project tied to a long-term power purchase agreement with Google. The financing marks the third DOE loan issued to support a nuclear plant restart in the United States, underscoring a broader federal push to revive shuttered reactors as electricity demand surges from data centers and artificial intelligence workloads.

The Duane Arnold Energy Center, Iowa's only nuclear energy project, first entered service in February 1975 and had a generating capacity of 615MW. The facility was shut down after the 2020 Midwest derecho — a straight-line windstorm that damaged its cooling towers — made repairs uneconomical. Reports surfaced in 2024 that NextEra was considering a restart of the plant, following Microsoft's announcement that it would take 100 percent of the revived Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. NextEra subsequently announced a 25-year power purchase agreement with Google in October, with the plant expected to begin delivering power by 2029.

The DOE said the latest loan will help finance the restart and represents the third loan provided by the Office of Energy Dominance Financing to support a nuclear plant restart in the US. Previous recipients include the Crane Clean Energy Center, also known as Three Mile Island Unit 1, which received a $1 billion loan, and the Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert Township, Michigan, which secured a $1.52 billion loan.

"President Trump has set an ambitious course to restore American nuclear leadership, and the restart of Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant in Iowa marks another step in advancing America's nuclear renaissance," said US Deputy Secretary of Energy James P. Danly. "Returning 615MW of reliable baseload generation will drive down electricity costs, while supporting thousands of American jobs. This administration is pursuing a comprehensive nuclear strategy, restarting existing reactors, increasing the output of our nuclear fleet, and accelerating new construction, to build the abundant, affordable, and reliable power system required for American prosperity and reindustrialization."

The Duane Arnold project is one of several nuclear plants to have their capacity contracted to hyperscale data center firms. In addition to Google and Microsoft, Meta signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy for the entire output of the 1.1GW Clinton Clean Energy Center in Clinton, Illinois. AWS has also entered the fray, signing a 1.92GW power purchase agreement with Talen Energy for energy from the 2.5GW Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The trend reflects a growing convergence between the nuclear power and data center industries, as technology companies seek long-term, carbon-free baseload power to fuel their rapidly expanding AI and cloud infrastructure.