Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, announced plans to launch a request for proposals (RFPs) for nuclear energy developers in the U.S. to provide new nuclear capacity to supply the massive increase in energy to power the growth in AI, while supporting its sustainability goals.

The company said that it is targeting the addition of between 1-to-4 gigawatts (GW) of new nuclear generation capacity, with delivery to begin in the early 2030s.

With the launch of its new RFPs, Meta will be joining its tech giant peers in the move to turn to nuclear energy as a solution address the rapid growth in energy consumption by d growth in AI-driven data center capacity, while addressing the emissions impact of the underlying power generation

With the launch of the new RFPs, Meta will be joining its tech giant peers in turning to nuclear energy as a solution to address the need for a rapid increase in electricity production to accommodate the growth in AI-driven data center capacity and power consumption, while protecting their goals to reduce the emissions impact of their operations. Over the past several weeks, Google, Microsoft and Amazon have each announced nuclear-focused investments and power generation agreements.

Meta has set targets to reach net-zero emissions across its value chain by 2030, and to continue to match 100% of the electricity used in its data centers and offices with renewable energy. In the company’s 2024 Sustainability Report, Meta said that while it has maintained net zero in its operations since 2020, its 2030 net zero value chain goal will be significantly harder to achieve, adding that “the challenge of reaching our sustainability goals given the increased demand for energy and resources driven by AI is not unique to Meta.”

To date, Meta has focused on solar, wind and battery storage deals to achieve its climate goals, with the company signing more than 12 GW of renewable energy contracts, making it one of the largest corporate buyers of renewable energy.

In its new announcement, however, Meta stated that the AI buildout will require “electric grids to expand and embrace new sources of reliable, clean and renewable energy,” adding that “we believe that nuclear energy can help provide firm, baseload power to support the growth needs of the electric grids that power both our data centers (the physical infrastructure on which Meta’s platforms operate) as well as the communities around them.”

Meta said that its RFPs will look to identify developers that can accelerate the availability of new nuclear generators and create scale to help reduce cost, “both to provide for Meta’s future energy needs and to advance broader industry decarbonization.”

In its statement announcing the plans for the nuclear RFPs, Meta said:

“As we look ahead to our next decade of innovation and growth, we are planning for our data center energy needs while simultaneously contributing to a reliable grid and advancing our sustainability commitments. Building on our efforts to bring new clean and renewable energy to the grid — including solar, wind, battery storage, and, most recently, geothermal — we continue to look for innovative ways to enable additional clean energy resources.”