Google-backed 615 MW nuclear plant set for 2029 return to power 500,000 homes

The Trump administration is putting $1.9 billion toward restarting a nuclear plant in Iowa as the U.S. works to keep up with rising electricity needs from artificial intelligence. On Tuesday, the Department of Energy said it had finalized a loan of up to $1.9 billion to help NextEra Energy bring the Duane Arnold Energy Center back online. The 615-megawatt plant is set to restart in early 2029. It will be able to power almost 500,000 homes and support the expanding cloud and AI infrastructure in Iowa. Federal cash backs nuclear comeback Duane Arnold ran for over 45 years before closing in 2020. It was supposed to shut down later that year, but a derecho damaged the facility and forced it offline several months ahead of schedule. NextEra now plans to bring the plant back online. The federal loan will help pay for the work needed to restore the facility and add its power back to the regional grid. The Energy Department expects the project to boost electricity supplies and lower power costs. When it restarts, Duane Arnold will be Iowa’s only working nuclear power plant. Deputy Energy Secretary James Danly said the financing “marks another step in advancing America’s nuclear renaissance.” Google locks in nuclear power Google is a key partner in the restart. In October 2025, Google and NextEra announced a deal where Google agreed to buy electricity from the plant through a multi-year contract. This agreement gives NextEra a steady customer for the electricity the plant will produce. For Google, it means a reliable power source for its growing cloud and AI operations in Iowa. “We expect Duane Arnold to be back online in early 2029, and the plant will provide more than 600 MW of clean, safe, “always-on” nuclear energy to the regional grid,” Google said in a blog post last year. Google also pledged an additional $7 billion investment in Iowa over two years. The spending includes new and expanded infrastructure supporting its cloud and AI businesses. AI pushes tech toward nuclear The deal shows how tech companies are changing as AI increases electricity demand. Running advanced AI models needs big data centers, which use a lot of power. Google is far from alone in seeking nuclear generation. A Microsoft-backed project to restart Pennsylvania’s Crane Clean Energy Center, formerly known as Three Mile Island Unit 1, received a $1 billion Energy Department loan in 2025. Meta has also reached agreements supporting up to 6.6 gigawatts of new and existing nuclear capacity by 2035. Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Meta are all expanding data center infrastructure as AI workloads continue to grow. Washington accelerates atomic power The Duane Arnold financing also fits into the Trump administration’s broader nuclear strategy. President Donald Trump signed several executive orders in 2025 aimed at accelerating nuclear development in the U.S. One order directed the Energy Department to halt most previous plans for diluting and disposing of surplus plutonium. It instead called for a program to process the material and make it available to private companies. The Iowa project now adds another major nuclear investment to that push. If the restart stays on schedule, Duane Arnold will return 615 MW of generating capacity to the grid in 2029, giving Iowa a major new source of dependable electricity as demand from AI infrastructure continues climbing.Get the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.A versatile writer, Sujita has worked with Mashable Middle East and News Daily 24. When she isn't writing, you can find her glued to the latest web series and movies.