Google, Kairos select Oak Ridge for Hermes 2 SMR under TVA PPA

Google and Kairos Power have selected Oak Ridge, Tennessee, as the site for an advanced nuclear power plant that will supply electricity to Google data centers in Tennessee and Alabama, beginning in 2030. The Hermes 2 small modular reactor (SMR) will feed the Tennessee Valley Authority grid under a long-term power purchase agreement, with the broader arrangement envisioned to deliver up to 500 megawatts of advanced nuclear capacity by 2035. The project marks the first time a U.S. utility has signed a PPA for generation IV nuclear energy, a technology widely regarded as safer and more sustainable than traditional reactors.

Hermes 2, scheduled to begin operations in 2030, will be built at Oak Ridge and is designed to produce up to 50 megawatts of electricity to the TVA grid. It forms the initial unit in a fleet that Google and Kairos Power have pledged to deploy under a corporate agreement announced last year to supply 500 megawatts of advanced nuclear power to support Google’s growing data-center footprint in the southeastern United States. The electricity will be used to power Google facilities locally and in Alabama, with clean energy credits accompanying the arrangement.