US-based Amazon Goes Nuclear as it Acquires $650M Atomic Data Centers from Cumulus Data

The e-commerce giant, Amazon, has gone nuclear as it acquires Cumulus Data’s atomic data centers for $650M. This adds a nuclear-powered data center campus to Amazon’s public cloud empire. The $650M deal is in liaison with Talen Energy, an operating electricity and transmission company in the United States with several facilities. The acquisition will see AWS take possession of a data center complex named Cumulus. It is a data center Talen built adjacent to its 2.5 gigawatt Susquehanna nuclear power plant in northeast Pennsylvania. In the opening of Cumulus Data in early 2023, it boasted 48 megawatts of capacity with Talen planning to grow the facility to 475 megawatts upon completion. Under the new ownership of Amazon, the facility has the potential to be even larger than earlier anticipated. AWS is in the bid to ensure that it promotes an eco-friendly environment in its endeavors.

The Scope of the Atomic Data Center Acquisition by Amazon

Amazon and Cumulus data came to a consensus that the e-commerce giant will acquire the Cumulus facility and associated power infrastructure. The other facility on the site, the Nautilus Cryptomine will remain to Cumulus Data jointly owned by Talen. The joint venture operations of the two companies will be named TeraWulf. The project’s terms of sales also indicated that Talen will not get the finances of the facility in full upfront. Rather, the electricity company will receive $350M when the deal is done, and an additional $300M upon the completion of the development milestones. This will all be done in the course of 2024. It is still unclear the significance that Amazon will have on the facility once it takes over, but it shows potential of immensely improving the operations of the facility.

The Significance of the Atomic Data Center Acquisition

Amazon’s atomic data center acquisition is of great significance to the e-commerce company. The company will immensely benefit from the acquisition deal as Talen is expected to continue supplying Amazon with direct access to power. The power supply will be from the electricity produced by the nuclear power plant. This is highly significant as the company can expand its resources and market while using renewable energy to do so. It is expected that AWS will have a maximum of 960 megawatts of electricity at its disposal annually. The company also has a one-time option to cap its commitments once its at 480 megawatts.

The Renewable Energy Deal is a Tremendous Achievement for AWS

The deal marks Amazon’s latest investment in carbon-free and renewable energy to power its growing data center footprint. Last month, Amazon signed a power purchase agreement with a wind farm in Gilliam County, Oregon. The operation, run by Avangrid, involves 40 turbines capable of producing a combined 90 megawatts of power. This is about 2.4 megawatts produced by each turbine. Amazon has also explored alternatives to traditional power plants. Early last year, it revealed that it planned to power three sites using about 75 megawatts of natural gas fuel cells and had an option to use the tech on a fourth site.