US-based NVIDIA has partnered with German energy company PreussenElektra to evaluate whether former NPP sites can be repurposed into high-performance AI data centres. The collaboration marks the first phase of an open-ended review.
While tech companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are backing projects to restart or directly tap nuclear reactors for power, this agreement takes a different path. The companies are not looking to revive the dormant reactors. Instead, they want to capitalise on the extensive industrial footprints and ready-made logistical advantages of closed plants.
Building modern AI factories requires vast resources, and former nuclear installations offer perfect structural foundations. Nuclear sites are already linked to massive power distribution grids, eliminating years of regulatory and construction delays required to build new electrical infrastructure.
These locations feature large, highly secure plots of land with existing industrial zoning and robust physical infrastructure. Nuclear plants were originally designed to handle extreme heat loads, and usually feature established access to water or the space necessary for advanced cooling systems.
PreussenElektra, a subsidiary of the major German utility E.ON, is currently responsible for decommissioning and dismantling eight nuclear power stations across Germany, which permanently closed its last operational nuclear reactors in April 2023.
Under this joint assessment, PreussenElektra will provide granular structural data, framework conditions, and land infrastructure insights. NVIDIA will evaluate the strict technical and layout requirements needed to build out its latest high-performance computing architectures.
No official sites have been locked in, and no concrete financial investments have been approved yet. Crucially, the companies have also not yet specified how they plan to source the electricity required to run the servers, given that Germany’s nuclear grid is entirely offline.
PreussenElektra will contribute its knowledge of the sites, infrastructure and relevant framework conditions to the assessment. As the technology partner, NVIDIA will primarily assess the requirements for AI factories and evaluate possible technical site concepts. On this basis, the two companies intend to determine which sites warrant more detailed consideration and under what conditions.
“Our former power plant sites have valuable industrial infrastructure and offer opportunities for new, future-oriented uses,” said Guido Knott, Chairman of the PreussenElektra Management Board. “Together with NVIDIA, we intend to conduct a sound assessment of whether and how these conditions can be leveraged for AI factories. In doing so, we are combining the responsible reuse of our sites with new economic opportunities for the regions.”
Markus Hacker, senior regional director at NVIDIA noted: “AI factories require access to power, land and high-capacity infrastructure, and former industrial sites could provide a strong foundation for this next generation of computing. Together with PreussenElektra, we will assess how its sites could meet the technical and operational requirements of AI factories and contribute to Germany’s high-performance AI infrastructure.”
