Why is this important
The project sets a new model for the power supply of data centers, where the source of energy and the consumer are initially designed as a single system. This can reduce the risks of electricity shortage for digital facilities and increase the stability of the energy system through basic nuclear generation. For Uzbekistan, this also means attracting high-tech investments and developing competencies at the intersection of energy and the digital economy.
What happened
- Japan plans to build a 50 MW data center in Uzbekistan, which will be powered by a small-capacity nuclear power plant.
- The Agency, together with the Japanese company Muroosystems Corporation, is implementing an international project to create a data center that is fully powered by electricity generated by small modular reactors (SMRs).
Numbers and facts
- The project provides for the construction of a data center with a planned energy consumption of 50 MW.
- The facility will be powered exclusively by electricity generated by small modular reactors (SMRs).
- The agency emphasized that such a configuration forms a stable and predictable demand for nuclear generation and increases the efficiency of using nuclear power plants.
- The project involves the integration of atomic energy and digital infrastructure; the data center will be powered only by MMR, which, according to the department, will make it the world’s first example of such a solution for energy-intensive IT facilities.
- During the presidential visit, a cooperation agreement was signed with Nukem — a subsidiary of Muroosystems Corporation — on the use of technologies in the field of ensuring the safety of spent nuclear fuel.
Context
- Small modular reactors are considered one of the promising formats of atomic generation due to their compactness and flexibility of placement.
- For the IT infrastructure market, such an approach opens up the possibility of scaling energy-intensive services with stringent requirements for food reliability.
- The integration of atomic energy with digital projects reflects the global trend of finding sustainable energy sources for growing demand from data centers.
