NextEra Looks to Nuclear, Renewables for Powering Data Centers

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Written by Danny Levin, Deputy Editor for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

NextEra looks to build out its nuclear and renewables fleet, which features solar and battery storage, in order to serve data center customers.

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NextEra's Plans for Nuclear Power

In NextEra Energy Incorporated's (Juno Beach, Florida) recent fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings conference call, Chief Executive Officer John Ketchum said the company is in advanced discussions to add nine gigawatts (GW) of nuclear capacity to provide power for data centers, a portion of which could come online as soon as 2028. This comes as the company also adds solar and battery storage capacity to meet the same end-use.

NextEra is composed of its NextEra Energy Resources ("Energy Resources") merchant clean energy business and its Florida Power & Light (FPL) electric utility.

Efforts to optimize and add generating capacity to its nuclear fleet include advancing the recommissioning of the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa, made possible by a 25-year power purchase agreement with Google (Mountain View, California).

In addition to the roughly 600-megawatt (MW) Duane Arnold plant, he said there is capacity available at NextEra's nuclear plants in New Hampshire and Wisconsin (Point Beach). Last year, Point Beach received approval to operate for another 20 years, and Ketchum said NextEra has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) extension for 14% of the plant's capacity (total of about 1.2 GW).

There's also interest in the Seabrook nuclear plant in New Hampshire, he said, with Point Beach and Seabrook offering a combined 1.7 GW of capacity.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project and Plant databases can read a project report on the Duane Arnold restart and see plant profiles for the aforementioned nuclear plants.

He also said the company has opportunities for 6 GW of co-located small modular reactors at nuclear sites and is working to develop new greenfield sites.

NextEra also continues to advance its "potential gas-fired generation build with a pipeline that's now topped 20 gigawatts," which includes securing an initial 4 GW worth of turbines from GE Vernova (Cambridge, Massachusetts).

NextEra's Solar and BESS Buildout

Renewables are another tool in the effort to power data centers.

The company has secured solar panels to meet development expectations through 2029, Ketchum said, and "we've begun construction on those projects, too. We've also secured 1.5x [times] our project inventory against our forecast, providing us permitting protection."

Battery storage also is a key element, as it now represents almost one-third of the company's 30-GW backlog. The company is developing both standalone and co-located battery energy storage systems (BESS); both methods account for a 95-GW pipeline.

One solar-plus-storage project with a power purchase agreement in place with Google is the Pierce County Energy Center in Nebraska. Expected to be operational in 2027, it would have 423 MW of solar and 170 MW of BESS capacity. Subscribers can read the project report.

"Our ability to build all these forms of energy infrastructure is why Energy Resources continues to be a partner of choice for hyperscalers. These data center hub opportunities, as we call them, represent a powerful channel to originate large generation projects with expansion opportunities where we can grow alongside our hyperscaler partner rather than building on a project-by-project basis." Energy Resources aims to place 15 GW of new generation for data center hubs in service by 2035 through a mix of new renewables, battery storage and gas generation. "We currently have 20 potential hubs we are discussing with the market, and we expect that number to rise to 40 by year end."

NextEra continued to extend its leading role in low-carbon power during 2025 and the fourth quarter, adding an annual record of 13.5 GW to its solar-generation and BESS backlog and reaching a quarterly record of about 3.6 GW. The company said this performance "reflects growing demand, including from hyperscalers that are looking for speed-to-market power solutions."

The total backlog now stands at approximately 30 GW.

Florida Power & Light

NextEra also is looking to FPL to serve data centers. "FPL is both creating value for its customers and diversifying its generation portfolio by adding cost-effective solar and storage to the nation's largest natural gas-fired fleet and four nuclear units that make up the backbone of its generation fleet," the company said in an earnings-related press release.

In the call, Ketchum said every gigawatt of power is equivalent to roughly $2 billion worth of capital expenditures (capex).

FPL's capex for the fourth quarter reached about $2.1 billion, bringing 2025 capex to about $8.9 billion, and Ketchum said the unit expects to invest between $90 billion and $100 billion through 2032.

All of FPL's solar power projects being tracked by Industrial Info are on a smaller scale, each providing less than 75 MW of generation. This includes seven projects under construction, worth $410 million, all of which are expected to wrap up this year.

NextEra did not provide any capital spending information for 2026.

Industrial Info is tracking more than $95 billion worth of active and planned projects from NextEra, more than $73 billion of which is attributed to grassroot projects. Subscribers can see a full list of projects.

NextEra reported strong fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results. Net income on a generally accepted principles of accounting (GAAP) basis for the fourth quarter reached $1.5 billion, up from $1.2 billion year over year, while full-year net income of $6.8 billion was essentially flat compared with 2024.

Key Takeaways

• NextEra looks to nuclear power and renewables to serve data center customers, as well as a potential pipeline of gas-fired generation.
• The company has advanced discussions to add 9 GW of nuclear capacity for data centers.
• Solar and battery storage are shorter-term solutions, while nuclear and gas-fired power have a longer development timeline.

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About IIR News Intelligence
IIR News Intelligence is a trusted source of news for the industrial process and energy markets, powered by Industrial Info Resource's Global Market Intelligence (GMI).

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 Trillion (USD).